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UNIVERSITY IVOTTAWA - ECOLE DES ORADUES ANALYTICAL STUDY OP CARL SANDBURG AS POET AND BIOGRAPHER by Sister Mary Grace Ruszkowski, CSPN. Dissertation presented to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ottawa through the De partment of English as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ^Ottawa Chicago, Illinois, 1962 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAVyA^- fSCHOgL ©^GRADUATE STUDIES UMI Number: DC53844 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform DC53844 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 UNIVSRSITE D'OTTAWA - ECOLE DES ORADUES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was prepared under the direction of Professor Emmet O'Grady, Ph. D., Chairman of the Department of English. Appreciation and gratitude are here expressed for his patient guidance in leading this work to its com pletion. Acknowledgments are also expressed to the following institutions for making available their facilities in the research that went into this work: Catholic University of America Library, Washington, D.C.; Chicago Public Library, Chicago, Illinois; De Lourdes College Library, Des Plaines, Illinois; Library of Congress, Washington, D. C; North western University Library, Evanston, Illinois; University of Chicago Library, Chicago, Illinois; University of Illinois Library, Urbana, Illinois; and Widener Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA ~ SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES . UNIVERSITE D'OTTAWA - ECOLE DES ORADUES CURRICULUM STUDIORUM The writer, Sister Mary Grace Ruszkowski, CSFN., was born July 27, 1911, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She obtained the Bachelor of Arts degree in August, 1942* and the Master of Arts degree in August, 19i|-6, from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh. On both levels of study her field of concentration was English. The subject of her thesis for the Master's degree is "The Antiquarian Elements in the Poetry of Robert Stephen Hawker-" In her post-graduate studies she had taken courses in other fields at different colleges and universities. In education, at St. John's College, Cleveland, Ohio, and at De Paul University, Chicago, Illinois. In journalism, at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. In theology, at Xavier College, Chieago, Illinois. She taught in the high schools conducted by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago. At present she is on the faculty of De Lourdes College, Des Plaines, Illinois, and that of St. Mary of Nazareth School of Nursing, Chicago. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA - SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERS1TE D'OTTAWA - ECOLE DES GRADUES TABLE OP CONTENTS Chapter page INTRODUCTION vii PART I SANDBURG'S POETRY IN GENERAL I.—SANDBURG'S SOCIOLOGICAL POETRY 5 1. Chicago Poems % 2. Cornhuskers 18 3. Smoke and Steel 20 [(.. Slabs of Sunburnt West 21 5. War Verses 26 II.—SANDBURG'S LYRIC POETRY 33 PART II DETAILED ANALYSIS OP SANDBURG'S POETRY III.—ANALYSIS OP LONG LYRICS 57 1. "Prairie" 57 2. "Smoke and Steel" 60 3. "The Windy City" 62 II. "Slabs of Sunburnt West" 69 5. "Many Hats" 7^ 6. "Good Morning, America" 77 IV.—THE PEOPLE, YES 86 1. The Diversity of National Origins 90 2. The Fundamental Goodness of Man 9k 3. Pattern of Renewal of Spirit 98 1L. Socio-Economic Pattern 102 5. The Growth of Modern Industry 106 6. The Complexity of Modern Life 113 7. Democracy: Hope of the Masses 118 8. Eventual Assertion of People's Rights .... 12£ V.—TRAITS OF NATIONAL CHARACTER UNFOLDED IN THE PEOPLE, YES 128 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA - SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERS1TE D'OTTAWA - ECOLE DES GRADUES TABLE OP CONTENTS v- Chapter page VI.—TECHNICAL DEVICES IN SANDBURG'S POETRY l£0 1. Color 150 2. Symbols 1|6 3. Figures of Speech 166 i+. Imagery of Sound 177 £. Line and Stanza Pattern 183 6. Language 188 VII.—SANDBURG'S STYLE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ... 196 PART III SANDBURG AND LINCOLN VIII.—SANDBURG, THE BIOGRAPHER 212 1. Biographer and Subject 21k 2. America in Lincoln's Day 217 3. Lincoln and the People 22k Ij.. Lincoln's Character 22o 5. His Temper and Moods 232 6. His Laughter 235 7. His Human Foibles 238 8. His Ability to "Take It" 2LL2 9. Lincoln and the Masses Z\\$ 10. Lincoln and Women 2k8 11. Lincoln's Religion and Faith in God 253 12. Method and Style of the Biography 262 CONCLUSIONS 275 BIBLIOGRAPHY 278 Appendices A. TABLES OF COLOR DISTRIBUTIONS 299 B. TABLES OF SYMBOL DISTRIBUTIONS 307 C. SANDBURG'S VIEWS ON HIS WRITINGS AS GLEANED FROM HIS SPEECHES AND INTERVIEWS .... 31k D. ABSTRACT OF Analytical Study of Carl Sandburg as Poet and Biographer 315 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA ~ SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D'OTTAWA ~ ECOLE PES GRADUES LIST OF TABLES APPENDIX A Table , page I.—Distribution of Colors in All Six Volumes of Poetry 299 II.—Distribution of Colors in Chicago Poems .... 300 III.—Distribution of Colors in Cornhuskers 301 IV.--Distribution of Colors in Smoke and Steel . 302 V.—Distribution of Colors in Slabs of Sunburnt West 303 VI.—Distribution of Colors in Good Morning, America 30k VII.— Distribution of Colors in The People, Yes. 30£ VIII.--Comparative Color Chart in Descending Order of Frequency 306 APPENDIX B I.—Distribution of Repeated Symbols in All Six Volumes of Poetry 307 II.—Distribution of Repeated Symbols in Chicago Poems 308 III.—Distribution of Repeated Symbols in Cornhuskers 309 IV.—Distribution of Repeated Symbols in Smoke and Steel 310 V.—Distribution of Repeated Symbols in Slabs of Sunburnt West 311 VI.--Distribution of Repeated Symbols in Good Morning, America 312 VII.—Distribution of Repeated Symbols in The People, Yes 313 UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA ~ SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D'OTTAWA - ECOLE PES GRADUES INTRODUCTION In spite of the barrage of criticism that has been heaped upon him and his style of writing, in spite of the dubiousness that surrounds his place as a poet, Carl Sand burg still has his claims upon an audience. The fact that he is the subject of research not only in published works, but in a number of unpublished theses, bespeaks his audience- hold. With the settling effect that comes with the passage of time, the perspective on him today is far clearer than that which the years of his literary production have of fered. One is able to understand more readily now why the reading public of Sandburg's early works reacted as violent ly as it did to his non-conformist handling of poetry and to his non-poetie material. Though proud of their city's poetic experimentation in the first two decades of this cen tury, Chicagoans were loathe to accept the labels Sandburg tagged on to their city: hog butcher, tool maker, stacker of wheat. The more genteel readers were stunned at his downright brutality and, his effrontery of trying to pass mere colloquial wisdom as poetry. To be sure, they were willing to accept it as raw material for poetry, but in no wise to look upon it as the finished product. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA ~ SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D'OTTAWA -- ECOLE PES GRADUES INTRODUCTION viii. Undaunted by the reactions of the public, Sandburg continued to write in a style so individual that to this day he remains as one of the most controversial figures in the history of twentieth century American letters. Removal from the immediacy of his day has not altered the essence of his work; namely, a vigorous interpretation of the ma chine age. His poetic material is part and parcel of it: a midwest metropolis, its machinery, its ordinary people, its laborers, its brute strength, cruelty, and unbridled energy. To claim, however, that interpretation of the ma chine age was his primary purpose in writing his poetry is to run counter to his open admission of purpose at a talk given during the fiftieth celebration of the Chicago Public Library. Speaking of his Chicago Poems and Slabs of the Sunburnt West, Sandburg openly asserted that these were done with a deliberate theory that America will have a li terature of her own. Its origins were taken from her soil, her speech, her winds and air.1 Such conscious setting up of purpose to produce an indigenous literature is not new in the history of Ame rican letters. One needs only recall the literary goal of the Connecticut Wits in the eighteenth century. They, too, Sandburg, Carl, "Address and Reading," in the Proceedings at the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Chicago Public Library—TB73-1923, Chicago, 1923, p. k5-6. UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA ~ SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES UNIVERSITE D'OTTAWA •• ECOLE PES GRADUES INTRODUCTION ix» endeavored to prove to the world that a politically inde pendent country was ready to produce a similarly indepen dent literature. History is there to indicate how short they have fallen of their goal. Native material does not, per se, produee native letters. Individuality in the treatment of it must be wedded to the material before the end-product becomes a characteristically different type. It is generally agreed upon that Sandburg fulfilled both requirements. But did his end-product live up to the claim he made about producing a purely American literature? Accepting him as one of the experimenters in the school of "new poetry", America was willing to allow him to sing her songs in his individual way, hoping, that as time went on, he would mature to a true poetic status.