Carl Sandburg

1. Biography Carl Sandburg Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography By: James Welch

2. Biography Biography A Walk in the Shoes of Sandburg “Here is the difference between Dante, Milton, and me. They wrote about Hell and never saw the place. I wrote about Chicago after looking the town over for years and years” (BrainyQuote). Collected Works This famous quote by Carl Sandburg, gives us a clear picture of what his life was like, while he lived in Chicago. Carl August Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois on the 6th of January of 1878 to August and Clara Sandburg (“Carl Sandburg”, uncp.edu). August and Clara emigrated from Sweden and adopted the surname of Sandburg (“Carl Sandburg’s Biography”). Upon moving from Sweden, Clara and August bought a three-bedroom cottage in Galesburg, where they raised their child. Sandburg’s father was a blacksmith helper at the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad. August supported the Sandburg family, while Clara was a stay at home mom. August and Carl were indeed very close, until Sandburg decided he didn’t want to be the generic working man of America (“Carl Sandburg”, Poets.org). From this point on Sandburg and his father grew farther and farther apart. Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

3. Biography Continued Biography Sandburg worked a variety of jobs, before he began writing poetry. Not even legally an adult yet, he worked as a bricklayer, ice harvester, and threshed hay in Kansas (“Carl Sandburg’s Biography”). Although, in 1897 Sandburg decided it was time to leave, he hopped on a train and became a hobo. He decided he wasn’t someone who could stick around for a long period of time, and on this trip, Sandburg received some of his vital information he used for his poems, such as his strong distrust for capitalism. As significant as these memories might be, the most influential part of Sandburg’s life happened in early 1898 when he volunteered to fight in the Spanish-American war (“Carl Sandburg”, Poets.org). After the war Sandburg met the woman he felt was the most beautiful woman in the world, Ms. Lilian Steichen. Since then, he has written poems until his death in his North Carolina home on July 22, 1967(“Carl Sandburg” uncp.edu). Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

4. Biography Continued Biography Sandburg wasn’t an exceptional scholar throughout grade school. He struggled with the concept of learning and why things need to be a certain way for them to function properly. Upon graduating from 8th grade at 13 years of age, Sandburg dropped out of school and entered the workforce (“Carl Sandburg”, poets.org). After the war in late 1898, Sandburg attended Lombard College. While attending Lombard, Sandburg became an active member in the Poor Writers’ Club, which is a literary organization in which the members met to read and critique poetry (“Carl Sandburg’s Biography”). It was in this club that Sandburg met a professor, Phillip Green Wright, who strongly encouraged Sandburg to become a full time poet. Sandburg and Mr. Wright became closer than any usual professor-student relationship. Mr. Wright willingly paid for Sandburg’s first volume of poetry, “Reckless Ecstasy” (“Carl Sandburg”, uncp.edu). Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

5. Biography Continued Biography While it is true that Sandburg never received a diploma from Lombard, he was later honored by not only the college in which he attended, but also colleges such as Northwestern University and Knox College. These colleges honored Sandburg for his excellent work in the art of poetry and use of free verse (“Carl Sandburg”, Poets.org). Although he was recognized as a poet by universities and colleges, it was in 1939 that his biggest accomplishment occurred when his poem “Abraham Lincoln: The War Years” was a Pulitzer Prize winner. If one Pulitzer wasn’t enough, he received his second for his poetic work titled “Complete Poems” in 1950 (“Carl Sandburg’s Biography”). Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

6. Biography Continued Biography Sandburg remains a world-renowned poet. He is especially known for his use of free verse, which is poetry that doesn’t rhyme or have a specific meter. Before the 1920’s Sandburg rhymed and used rhythm to emphasize his poems. Upon switching to free verse in 1919, people commonly said, “if you didn’t like free verse, you will after you listen to Sandburg” (“Carl Sandburg”, Poets.org). This quote clearly depicts that Sandburg was at the top of the free verse world during this time era. Many different aspects of Sandburg’s life formed a basis for his poems; some of which were about his wife, Lillian “Paula” Sandburg or another true love of Sandburg’s, Chicago (“Carl Sandburg’s Biography”). Sandburg enjoyed the tenacity and competitiveness of Chicago. It is here where he made numerous world known poems. To grip the reader’s attention in these poems, Sandburg used poetic devices such as similes, onomatopoeias, and metaphors (“Carl Sandburg”, uncp.edu). With Sandburg’s incredible free verse poems in direct relation with these devices, his poems are remembered and will continue to be thought of as true poetic masterpieces. Sandburg was a true poet who will be remembered for his resilient personality and the ability to not give up on his dreams. This quote by George Bernard is an excellent descriptor of how Carl Sandburg viewed life, “You see things and say ‘Why?’ but I dream things and say ‘Why not?”(“Inspirational Quotes About Life”). Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

7. Collected Works Biography Chicago Pool Sketch Fog Masses Troths Lost Losses The Harbor White Shoulders They Will Say Kin Mill Doors Killers Subway Among the Red Guns Fish Crier Picnic Boat Happiness Muckers Blacklisted Graceland Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

8. Ready to Kill Biography TEN minutes now I have been looking at this.I have gone by here before and wondered about it.This is a bronze memorial of a famous generalRiding horseback with a flag and a sword and a revolver     on him.I want to smash the whole thing into a pile of junk to be     hauled away to the scrap yard.I put it straight to you,After the farmer, the miner, the shop man, the factory     hand, the fireman and the teamster,Have all been remembered with bronze memorials,Shaping them on the job of getting all of usSomething to eat and something to wear,When they stack a few silhouettes          Against the sky          Here in the park,And show the real huskies that are doing the work of     the world, and feeding people instead of butchering them,Then maybe I will stand hereAnd look easy at this general of the army holding a flag     in the air,And riding like hell on horsebackReady to kill anybody that gets in his way,Ready to run the red blood and slush the bowels of men     all over the sweet new grass of the prairie. Analysis Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

9. Ready to Kill Analysis Biography Carl Sandburg’s “Ready to Kill” uses imagery in a way that most authors cannot obtain. Imagery is the use of vividly descriptive words and phrases, to enhance the writer’s view of what is taking place in a literary work. Carl Sandburg‘s quote, “I want to smash the whole thing into a pile of junk to be/ hauled away to the scrap yard”, in which Sandburg is describing a statue of an army general, clearly depicts his hatred for the killing of another man. He feels that generals and army commanders are not the people who deserve to have statues and memorials constructed in their honor. He feels the average workingman of America, such as a miner or a farmer, should be the ones who deserve statues in their honor. Sandburg thinks that generals do no more than just ride on a horse and destroy anything in their path, while the workingmen are the people who provide food and shelter for our country’s people. Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

10. Ready to Kill Analysis Biography Ending the poem with great imagery of what he feels the generals do in the army, with the quote “Ready to run the red blood and slush the bowels of men/ all over the sweet new grass of the prairie.”, Sandburg gives us a clear image of the war atrocities that do occur. Sandburg used vivid imagery to better enhance the picture the reader sees. He felt that the more clearly the poem can be seen, the more likely people will start to dislike the problems in war. Carl Sandburg is indeed an expert at using imagery. He can make the author feel like you are at the sight of this heated battle or you are in the alley where the woman was raped. Sandburg’s “Ready to Kill”, was the perfect poem based on the literary term imagery, and will be thought of as one of Sandburg’s greatest for many years to come. Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

11. Sandburg’s Sample Poems Biography “Pool”, is not one of the longest poems Sandburg had written; although, I feel it is one of his greatest literary pieces. This poem makes my mind picture something I would not normally view. When I started this poem, I thought it was going to be some sort of horror. It wasn’t until I read the line “A tea cup of ashes or so”, that made me think that this man had passed away and been cremated. When finished, I felt that whoever this man was, Sandburg was close too. Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems • “Pool” by Carl Sandburg OUT of the fireCame a man sunkenTo less than cinders,A tea-cup of ashes or so.And I,The gold in the house,Writhed into a stiff pool. Original Poems Bibliography

12. Sandburg’s Sample Poems Biography Sandburg’s poem, “Docks”, is one of my personal favorites. It makes me feel as if I was standing with Sandburg as he looked upon the “fathomed harbor”. His vivid and descriptive choices of words let me see the docks and the ships as he saw them. Sandburg’s use of imagery, leads the readers’ minds on a trip to the docks as Sandburg described in this poem. If this element would not have been so strong, us as readers would not have been able to fully comprehend and enjoy this literary masterpiece. Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Click here to go to Sandburg’s Poem “Docks” Original Poems Bibliography

13. Sandburg’s Sample poems Biography DOCKS STROLLING alongBy the teeming docks,I watch the ships put out.Black ships that heave and lungeAnd move like mastodonsArising from lethargic sleep. The fathomed harborCalls them not nor daresThem to a strain of action,But outward, on and outward,Sounding low-reverberating calls,Shaggy in the half-lit distance,They pass the pointed headland,View the wide, far-lifting wildernessAnd leap with cumulative speedTo test the challenge of the sea. Plunging,Doggedly onward plunging,Into salt and mist and foam and sun. Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

14. Kin by Carl Sandburg Biography Click here to go to James Welch’s “Stranger” inspired by Sandburg Collected Works      BROTHER, I am fireSurging under the ocean floor.I shall never meet you, brother--Not for years, anyhow;Maybe thousands of years, brother.Then I will warm you,Hold you close, wrap you in circles,Use you and change you--Maybe thousands of years, brother. Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

15. Strangers by James Welch Biography Faces, I am lost Erupting with emotions Volcanoes upon which I have yet to seek Months, Days, Hours, Seconds Until I meet Ice, what I feel When you walk by Used me For personal pleasure Jokes, laughs, chuckles? All on my expense When shall we meet? Maybe thousands of years, brother. Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

16. Fog by Carl Sandburg Biography Click here to go to James Welch’s “Rain” inspired by Carl Sandburg Collected Works THE fog comeson little cat feet. It sits lookingover harbor and cityon silent haunchesand then moves on. Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

17. Rain by James Welch Biography Arriving with Wind Like bugs caught in Looming over the plain Looking down on the farm Farmer by the fire Peering out the Portal to the outside Cows, Pigs, Tractors All fly by As if time stood still And Then Moves on Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

18. Benjamin Franklin by James Welch Biography A young boy, Confused Upon a New York Street Cars and People Buzzing about Like the inside of a beehive The boy turns around Spots Between legs, briefcases, bags Like trying to look through An endless word find A parchment of paper Is what he sees Turning around Knowing not what he now possesses Holding it, Motionless Like a crocodile, waiting to pounce A tap on his shoulder That is what he feels A Man Emotionless Like the Mona Lisa Grabs for the Parchment “Hello Mr. Benjamin” The Young Boy Lost without a cause Watching Watching Watching The Man disappears Into the crowd Like pen under white out As he wonders “Who is Mr. Benjamin?” Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

19. Trip of a Lifetime by James Welch Biography She crawls to the top of the cliff Where she engorges in her last view of life. Twilight, a rainbow Like all the colors of the underside of a rainbow trout. Once Hidden, Now Found. The Casket, Like a Mask Lilac covered. Frost nipping At the ceremonial attendees Waiting..Waiting..Waiting.. For the girl Once filled with laughter Now a shell of an old woman. Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

20. My Life be Like by James Welch Biography 2 A.M. summer nights Parent’s lights Not so bright The time is right Here we go Out the window Down the road Rappin’ Weezy Jammin’ out Sun’s comin’ out Time to go to bed Tomorrow’s another day Better than the next Always gold Pimpin’ clothes Might just have A swagger overload Facebook loaded Friends are ready For the night Of our lives Better Make sure We live it up Like our time is up! Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography

21. Bibliography Biography http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/carl_sandburg.html http://carl-sandburg.com/biography.htm http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/28 http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/canam/sandburg.htm http://inspirationalquotesaboutlife.com/ http://www.amelishan.com/assets/Image/FaceBook-Logo.png http://0.tqn.com/d/gocentralamerica/1/0/U/-/-/-/dock.JPG http://www.ci.lancaster.ma.us/Pages/LancasterMA_Events/S014E8F11-014ECD37.0/clock_clip_art_03.jpg http://www.intellectualblathering.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/lilac-11.jpg http://static.travelblog.org/Wallpaper/pix/sunset_wallpaper_brazil-1600x1200.jpg http://blog.spafinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/flames.jpg http://www.howaboutchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Chicago_skyline.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_khYoWIBgmBI/SfXFg-U5QwI/AAAAAAAABGo/F1l6yNc1aXk/s320/Sandburg2.jpg Collected Works Sample Poems Inspired Poems Original Poems Bibliography