Chicago Grass Carl Sandburg 1878–1967

The New Poetry Chicago

READING 3 Understand the Grass structure and elements of poetry. 7 Draw conclusions Poetry by Carl Sandburg about how an author’s sensory language creates imagery in literary text. RC-11(A) Reflect Meet the Author on understanding to monitor comprehension.

Carl Sandburg 1878–1967 When Carl Sandburg died in 1967, he ran out of money, he returned to President Lyndon Johnson was among the the Midwest, writing for journals in first to sing his praises. “Carl Sandburg,” Chicago and joining the lecture circuit. the president declared, “was more than the His skill as an orator eventually earned did you know? voice of America, more than the poet of him a job in Milwaukee as an organizer Carl Sandburg . . . its strength and genius. He was America.” for the Wisconsin Social-Democratic • considered running Johnson’s feelings were not unique. Party. While living there, he married for president of the Americans everywhere cherished Sandburg, Lillian Steichen, who, like Sandburg, was United States. believing his verse celebrated their spirit and committed to fighting social injustice. • worked as a war speech as well as championed their cause. Literary Celebrity correspondent during In 1912, the couple World War I. A Hobo at Heart Sandburg grew up in moved to Chicago, where Sandburg • wrote books for children. America’s heartland in Galesburg, Illinois. became a reporter, editorial writer, and From his Swedish immigrant parents, columnist for the Chicago Daily News. • spoke before Congress about Abraham Lincoln. August and Clara Sandburg, he learned Two years later, his verse began to appear to value hard work and education. His in Poetry, a prominent literary magazine. family’s poverty, however, forced Sandburg With the publication of his poetry to curtail his schooling at 13 in order to collections Chicago Poems, Cornhuskers, go to work. He labored at various jobs, and Smoke and Steel, Sandburg gained ranging from shining shoes to delivering a reputation as the poet of the common milk. When he turned 19, he left home to people. The poetry readings he gave explore the American West, becoming one further heightened his popularity. of ththee many hhoboesoboes wwhoho hhoppedop freight Interspersing poetry with commentary ttrainsrains in order to travel freefree.. and folk songs sung in his melodious baritone, Sandburg enthralled audiences SSocialocial Activist When tthe Spanish- wherever he went. American War erupteruptede in 1898, SSandburgandburg served foforr eight months Sandburg won a number of awards iinn Puerto Rico. AftAftere his return, and honors, including the 1951 Pulitzer hhee studied at LombLombarda College Prize for poetry for Complete Poems and bbutut left without recreceivinge a the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for history for ddiploma.iploma. Overtaken once again by Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, the wanderlust, he rambrambledl about the last volume in a six-volume biography. ccountry,ountry, soaking uupp America’s sightssights and songs.so When Author Online Go to thinkcentral.com. KEYWORD: HML11-928

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literary analysis: tone and diction Some poems exhibit a subtle tone that is difficult to perceive and nearly impossible to describe. Others practically break forth with trumpets in the first stanza. Whether gently or Would you boldly, poets generally convey tone, or attitude toward the subject, through diction (word choice and syntax) and choice rather live of details. In the first lines of “Chicago,” Carl Sandburg’s city diction creates a tone of admiration for a hard-working city: in the Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, or the Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; country Stormy, husky, brawling, ? City of the Big Shoulders. . . . “If you would be known, and not know, Read these two poems by Sandburg aloud to help you identify vegetate in a village; if you would know, the tone of each. If you read with emotion, your tone of voice and not be known, live in a city,” wrote may provide you with clues to the poem’s tone. the poet Reverend Charles Caleb Colton. What benefits and drawbacks do you Review: Personification associate with city living? with country reading skill: synthesize details living? What kind of place inspires you the most? In the poems that follow, In “Chicago,” Sandburg presents a long list, or catalog, of Carl Sandburg explores different qualities, images, and statements about the city. Collectively, settings that have affected him. this sensory language helps create vivid imagery of the city. QUICKWRITE As you read, pay close attention to the sensory language that Think about a city or a Sandburg employs, and note how he uses it to create imagery. place in the country where you would After you read the poem, you’ll be asked to synthesize like to live. What aspects of this setting numerous details into a single, coherent impression. particularly appeal to you? How might living there enrich your life? Spend a few minutes writing in response to Complete the activities in your Reader/Writer Notebook. these questions.

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TX_L11PE-u05s22-brChi.indd 929 9/8/09 10:28:19 AM Chicago Carl Sandburg

Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, 5 City of the Big Shoulders: a a SYNTHESIZE DETAILS The brief descriptive They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I phrases in lines 1–5, also known as epithets, are have seen your painted women under the gas lamps almost like nicknames; in luring the farm boys. fact, some of them have And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it come into common use. is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to What do they tell you kill again. about the city’s economy and industry? And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton1 hunger. And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them: 10 Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. b b TONE AND DICTION

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on Lines 6–8 contain harsh wicked job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the words such as and brutal. Identify little soft cities; the language in lines Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning 9–10 that counters this as a savage pitted against the wilderness, harshness. What does it Bareheaded, reveal about Sandburg’s Shoveling, feelings toward the city as well as its critics?

1. wanton: without limitation.

930 unit 5: the harlem renaissance and modernism 2 3 1 South of the Loop (1936), Charles Turzak. Color woodcut, Image 10 /3˝ × 11 /4˝, sheet 11 /4˝ × 15˝. Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, 1992.73 © Joan Turzak Van Hees.

15 Wrecking, Analyze Visuals Planning, What qualities of the Building, breaking, rebuilding, city are emphasized by both the horizontal Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with and the vertical lines in white teeth, this woodcut? Refer to specific areas of the print Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young when giving your answer. man laughs, 20 Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse, and under his ribs the heart of the people, Laughing! Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half‑naked, sweating, proud to be Hog 25 Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

chicago 931 Grass

Carl Sandburg

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.1 Shovel them under and let me work— I am the grass; I cover all. c c PERSONIFICATION Reread lines 1–3. Sandburg And pile them high at Gettysburg uses personification in establishing the speaker 2 5 And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. for this poem. Who is the Shovel them under and let me work. speaker and what is its Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: role in these scenes? What place is this? d TONE ANd dICTION Where are we now? Identify several examples of repetition in this poem. 10 I am the grass. What tone is established Let me work. d by the repetition of these words and/or phrases?

1. Austerlitz (ôPstEr-lGtsQ) and Waterloo: sites of significant battles during the Napoleonic Wars (1800–1815). 2. Ypres (CPprE) and Verdun (vEr-dOnP): sites of significant battles during World War I.

Le Plateau de Bolante (1917), Félix Vallotton. Oil on canvas. Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine, Paris. © Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine-BDIC.

932 unit 5: the harlem renaissance and modernism After Reading

Comprehension 1. Recall What negative aspects of Chicago are presented in lines 6–8? READING 3 Understand the 2. Clarify What scenes are referred to in “Grass”? structure and elements of poetry. 7 Draw conclusions about how an author’s sensory language creates imagery in literary text. RC- Literary Analysis 11(A) Reflect on understanding to monitor comprehension. 3. Synthesize Details Think about the litany, or list, of images and ideas in “Chicago.” Based on the accumulation of detail in this poem, what general statement can you make about the people who live and work in the city?

4. Compare Tone and Diction Identify the tone of each poem. Are the tones similar or different? Cite at least three examples of diction that reveal tone in each poem. 5. Evaluate Personification Sandburg uses personification in “Chicago” as well as in “Grass,” giving human characteristics to objects, animals, or ideas. Describe the figure who personifies Chicago. What words and phrases capture his most important traits? 6. Analyze Style What poetic or other stylistic devices underscore Sandburg’s characterization of Chicago as a brash, brawling, vibrant city? Consider such elements as line and stanza shape, rhythm, and other formal conventions. Be specific, citing examples from the text. 7. Interpret Setting and Theme Both “Chicago” and “Grass” depict a strong sense of place, each containing some contradiction. For each poem, identify this contradiction and use it to help you formulate a theme statement. Give evidence to support your answers. 8. Compare and Contrast Writers Carl Sandburg was greatly influenced by the poetry of Walt Whitman (see page 530). Compare and contrast the two poets in terms of the following points, citing specific lines from their work. Can you see Whitman’s influence in Sandburg’s poems? Explain why or why not. • use of catalog or litany • tone and diction • use of repetition and parallelism • ideas about America Literary Criticism 9. Critical Interpretations Imagist poet William Carlos Williams once criticized Sandburg’s poetry as “formless.” Even some of Sandburg’s supporters conceded that this was true. Do you agree or disagree? Cite evidence to support your response, also explaining whether you would count yourself among his supporters or his critics, and why.

Would you rather live in the city or the country? In his poems “Chicago” and “Grass,” Carl Sandburg uses vivid imagery to make surprising statements about the city and the country. If you were going to write a poem about the city or the country, what imagery would you use? Explain.

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