For You O Democracy

“For You O Democracy” is written as a free verse poem. Free verse poetry is an open form of poetry. It emerged from the French vers libre form, and it does not follow formal poetry conventions of patterned meter, musicality, or rhyme. It typically follows natural speech patterns instead.

The poem consists of three stanzas. The first two stanzas are composed of five lines each, and the final third stanza is composed of two lines. The first two stanzas are composed of a complex sentence. For example, in the first stanza, the stanza opens with the command “Come” (Line 1). Rather than ending the first independent clause with a period to create an independent, punctuated statement, the line ends with a comma. The comma connects the poem’s first line to the poem’s second line—“I will make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon” (Line 2). The second line is also an independent clause, but like the first, it does not end with a period and ends with a comma. The comma connects the second line to the third line—“I will make divine magnetic lands” (Line 3), which is technically an independent clause. The third line also ends with a comma, which connects Line 3 to Line 4, a dependent clause—“With the love of comrades” (Line 4). This dependent clause is connected to the poem’s fifth and final line, “With the life-long love of comrades” (Line 5). This final line is punctuated with a period. The commas throughout the poem’s first stanza allow readers to pause and reflect, and they also create the speaker’s contemplative tone. The final line’s punctuation—a period—creates a stopping point which allows readers to stop before transitioning into the next stanza.

The second stanza is constructed similarly to the first stanza. However, in the second stanza, a few of the lines become longer. For example, the second stanza’s first line states, “I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America, and along the shores of” (Line 6). Here, the lengthened line creates a sense of breathlessness, of passion. The line ends with the preposition “of,” which creates a quick transition to the next line—a dependent clause: “the great lakes, and all over the prairies” (Line 7). The second independent clause in the poem states, “I will make inseparable cities with their arms about each other’s necks” (Line 8). This independent clause centers the stanza, and it also acts as a shifting point to the stanza’s closing lines, two dependent clauses: “By the love of comrades, / By the manly love of comrades” (Lines 9-10). This second stanza is the last of the longer stanzas.

In the third stanza, the poem becomes more succinct, and the speaker’s tone is more direct and excited. The speaker uses an exclamatory statement: “For you these from me, O Democracy, to serve you ma femme!” (Line 11). The speaker addresses democracy more directly, and the tone becomes more personal, more intimate. The poem concludes with the independent clause, “For you, for you I am trilling these songs” (Line 12). A period punctuates this line, creating a sense of calm and finality in the poem.