"Bronzes"

This poem was published in 1916.  The line about "the Yser" refers to the Yser River in Belgium -- in 1914, Belgium stopped the German advance there by using the river to flood the farmland.  This was a major defeat for Germany and bought the Allied defenses all over Europe a little time to shore up or stabilize their defenses.  It kept the German Army out of France and away from important ports like Dunkirk and Calais, letting the British Army bring in lots of reinforcements and supplies unhindered.  It is considered a turning point in World War One.

Okay, time to read the poem here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Analyze this poem!  Try to untangle a little bit about why Sandburg might refer to that specific part of the war.

"Accomplished Facts"

I stumbled across this Sandburg poem recently and love how it's a collection of different objects and ideas and people.  It's not exactly a "list poem," but it almost is?  You can read it here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What do you think the theme or point of this poem is?

2.  Which of the little anecdotes about famous people did you find most interesting?  

3.  What do you think a "bean bazaar" might be?  I have guesses, but I'd like to hear yours.

"Theme in Yellow"

A short and fun poem for the middle of the week.  You can read "Theme in Yellow" right here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  How would you describe the tone of this poem?

2.  If you were to write a poem about something yellow or orange, what would you choose to focus on?

"Chicago"

Today, we'll read one of Carl Sandburg's most famous poems: "Chicago."  This was first published in 1914, so World War One had just begun, but the US wasn't involved yet.  Prohibition hadn't hit yet, but Chicago was already notorious for its gangsters.  But what had originally turned it into a big city were the railroads and slaughterhouses.  After the Civil War, when the West started shipping beef to the hungry East, they would drive their cattle to railheads in Kansas and Nebraska (this is the classic cowboy era of 1865-1885), and the cattle would be shipped by train to Chicago, where they were butchered and packed in refrigerated rail cars and shipped to the East Coast.  

Your Grandpa Roger grew up in the Chicago area.  Your Great-Grandpa Kovaciny once temporarily stole a train there as a boy.  (If you haven't heard this story yet, ask Grandpa Roger next time you talk to him!)

With all of that in your head, read the poem here.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are some of the vivid words Sandburg uses that strike you as especially interesting?

2.  What words does Sandburg use repeatedly?  Why do you think he chooses to repeat those specific words?

3.  Do you think the city of Chicago sounds like a place you'd want to visit or live, based on this poem?  Why or why not?

Introducing Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg
(1878-1967)

Carl Sandburg was born in Illinois in 1878.  He quit school when he was thirteen to drive a milk delivery wagon to help support his family.  He also worked as a hotel porter, a brick layer, and a farm laborer.  He spent a little time at college, but didn't graduate, then got a job as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News.

Sandburg didn't write only poetry.  He also wrote history books, biographies for children and adults, novels, children's books, and film reviews!  He spent most of his life in the Upper Midwest, but eventually retired to North Carolina.

Sandburg joined the military during the Spanish-American War and was stationed in Puerto Rico, but he was never involved in a battle.  In 1908, he married Lillian Steichen, and the couple had three daughters.  Between 1916 and 1920, he published three collections of poetry while also working as a newspaperman.  The second collection, Cornhuskers, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.  He won a Pulitzer for history in 1940 for the latest volume in his children's biography of Abraham Lincoln.  In 1951, he won another Pulitzer for poetry.

In 1945, Carl and Lillian moved to a estate in the mountains of North Carolina that he named Connemara.  He lived there the rest of his life.  He supported the Civil Rights movement and was the first white man to be honored by the NAACP for his writings promoting equality and civil rights, which he began back in 1919.  He died of natural causes in 1967.

I didn't get into Carl Sandburg's poetry until fairly recently.  Oh, I'd read some of his really famous poems, but it wasn't until I visited the museum at his former home in North Carolina in 2007 that I started to really enjoy his work.  He has a lot in common with Robert Frost, so it's not surprising that I like his poetry, I suppose.