C. Sandburg (1878-1967)

American poets are divided sometimes into two groups: traditionalists and innovators. E.Robinson and C.Sandburg in the 20th century represent these two poles as strikingly as Poe and Whitman in the 19th century. C.Sandburg is a breaker of conventions akin to Whitman.

Form
Sandburg’s poetic form is free verse with:
• its lines of irregular length;
• its loose speech rhythm;
• its absence of end rhyme.

Sometimes he uses grand cadences and front rhymes (rhyme at the beginning of successive lines of verse). He follows Whitman’s tradition and use Whitman’s movement from short to long lines and then to short ones (an effect of a lip of a wave).

Theme
As far as theme is concerned, C.Sandburg uses Whitman’s scheme of lists and catalogues and Whitman’s praise of at first sight low and trivial things. Themes are characteristic of the prose and poetry of the 20s: disillusionment, dissatisfaction with his present and his heritage.

Language
C.Sandburg uses the language of the factory and the sidewalk: he speaks colloquially, roughly, a colourful extravagance of his speech produces a totally different effect from the habitual understatement of E.Robinson.

C.Sandburg wrote in 1951: “I’m still studying verbs and the mystery of how they connect nouns. I am more suspicious of adjectives than at any other time in all my born days. All my life I have been trying to learn to read, to see and hear, and to write”.

“Chicago”
• In the poem what ideas of the city is Sandburg emphasizing? Cite images that help develop these ideas. (lines 5, 10, 11, 12, 20-22)
• When “Chicago” was published before World War I it created a stir of excitement. Explain what at that time was startling about the poem in:
• idea;
• imagery;
• diction;
• poetic form.
• What is the tone of the poem? How does the author create it?

“Jazz Fantasia”
In this poem Sandburg makes extensive use of onomatopoeia, a device in which the sound of a word echoes its sense.
• Pick out onomatopoeic words and explain how they add to the effectiveness of the poem.
• Why is onomatopoeia an appropriate device to use in this particular poem?

“The Harbor”
• This poem is based on contrasts. What two areas are contrasted?
• To enhance this contrast, the author uses such device as alliteration. Compare the dominant sound in the first six lines with that in the last lines and explain how this change in sound heightens the contrast between the crowded city and the open beauty of the lake area at its edge. • What is the theme of the poem? Is the theme stated or implied?
• How does Sandburg’s poetry differ in techniques from that of Robinson?

“I am the people, the mob”
• This poem resembles Whitman’s poetry very much both in form and content (ideas).
• What similarities in form with Whitman’s poetry can you detect?
• What about the structure of a poetic line?
• Is the poem optimistic or pessimistic? Prove your point.
• Do you think the People eventually learn to remember? How?
• Explain the meaning of the last line of the poem.
• Repetions of “s” - what atmosphere does it produce?

Contrasting the poetry of Frost and Sandburg
Both Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg celebrate the American, the common man; both echo in their verses the speech rhythms of ordinary Americans. Often compared because they belong to the same generation and have done much to bring poetry to the American people, they nevertheless emphasize different aspects of modern poetry.
The central theme of both poets is man, but they handle this subject in different ways. Frost lived most of his life on farms and in small towns. The people he pictures in his poetry are specific individuals seen against a particular background. Sandburg, on the other hand, is keyed to the bustle of an industrial society and has made the city the setting for much of his poetry. He sees man as surrounded by the city, dwarfed by his environment, a member of a group rather than a clearly realized individual.
• Glance again over the poems by R.Frost, which you have studied, in which of them are you aware of individuals with distinct personalities? Can you describe the boy in “Out, Out –“?
• What sort of person is the neighbor in “Mending Wall”? The speaker?
• Do you find any individual portraits in the poems by Sandburg? What feeling toward men does Sandburg convey through these poems? How does he convey it? In their diction and the rhythms of language Frost and Sandburg also differ. In his laconic poetry Frost is talking as a New Hampshire farmer, an authenic New Englander. His phrases are spare, monosyllabic, often epigrammatic; sometimes they achieve a quality resembling folk speech. Midwesterner Carl Sandburg, by contrast, uses the language of the factory and the sidewalk. While he too speaks colloquially, there is roughness, colorful extravagance of his speech that produces a totally different effect from the habitual understanding of Frost.
• Read aloud lines spoken by Mary or warren in “The Death of the Hired Man” that catch the rhythm of New England speech. Contrast these lines with lines from “Chicago” or “They Have Yarns”. What differences do you notice in diction and rhythm?

Frost and Sandburg also differ in their handling of poetic form. Behind Frost’s work is the influence of his New England predecessors, Emerson and Emily Dickinson. Sandburg’s vigorous free verse is in the tradition of Whitman. Each has mastered the fusion between idea and poetic form.
• How do the rhyme and meter of “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” relate to its laconic, controlled quality?
• What effect is gained by the repetition of the last line?