A Note on Carl Sandburg’s Poem “Chicago”

Chicago city

                                                                                                             

City of Steel industries

                                                                  

                                              

Carl Sandburg with his wife, Lilian Steichen

 This poem is an example of American modernist literature written in typical American style and was published along with other poems in the March 1914 edition of the magazine “Poetry”. In 1916 Sandburg republished it in his collection,” Chicago Poems”. Sandburg was influenced by the language of the Bible and the free verse of Walt Whitman. Sandburg adopted the cadence of everyday talk as a model for his poems. He favored free verse with loose rhythm as a good way to convey his thoughts and feelings. H.L. Mencken called Sandburg’s poems as “simple, eloquent and extraordinarily moving.” He used long and short lines and lists. The use of catalogue gives the poem a unique rhythm. Repetition of phrases like “laughing” at the beginning of a sentence is called anaphora.

The first stanza defines the poet’s impressions about Chicago where he worked as an editor for the “Chicago daily news.” It is the industrial and commercial hub of America’s midwestern region. It is the place where meat industry thrives, where various mechanical tools are manufactured and where wheat bags are stored and transported to east and western zones. The poet personifies Chicago as a rough, burly, energetic young man with broad shoulders. The poet aptly describes the city as a busy industrial city contributing much to the progress of the nation.

 In the next section the poet deals with the flaws and vices pointed out by others who found fault with Chicago having many vices like prostitution, sexual abuse, murderers who go unpunished, starving people and pangs of poverty. Though the poet acknowledges the flaws of the city, he defends the unique admirable qualities of his city. This shows his close intimacy and love he has for Chicago. In a lengthy verse paragraph, he portrays the vibrant image of a sturdy, industrious city ‘fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action”, “cunning as a savage pitted against wilderness”. The city is like a strong fighter who has never lost a battle. The city is like a bareheaded worker” shoveling, wrecking, planning, building, breaking and rebuilding”. The poet gives a long catalogue of verbs to describe the dynamic nature of the citizens. The image of a young laborer laughing with white teeth ‘under the smoke, dust all over his mouth” shows the bold, defiant nature of the city which never concedes defeat and is ready to fight against all odds.

Chicago reflects the temperament and mood of her inhabitants who mostly belong to middle class and lower-class cadres working in factories and business firms. In the last section the poet repeats the vibrant energetic, bold image of Chicago as a “laughing, half-naked, sweating, brawling youth” who is proud of his unique identity as “a Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of wheat and Player with railroad and Freight handler” working for the progress of the nation. The poem starts with capitals to emphasize the vital role of the city. This poem celebrates the vitality and strength of the city while acknowledging its flaws and challenges. He used vivid and unconventional imagery to portray the city and its people. He ultimately asserts that Chicago is a place of great importance and pride.

The poet used free verse but used many figurative devices like simile, metaphor and personification. The use of parallel structures, repetition of key phrases and words with American speech rhythm adds a sense of creative touch. The city is “fierce as a dog” and “cunning as a savage”. The poet calls the city “a young man” as it was founded only 1833 unlike other ancient cities. He uses personification characterizing the city as a living thing. The overall mood of the poem is one of praise and exuberance. Though it is brutal, cruel or wicked, the poet uses many phrases to show its important role in industry and trade as “the hog butcher of the world” and “stacker of wheat.” Though it is rough to look at, the poet describes the city as “the city of big shoulders”, “a place of strength, power, progress and potential.” Thus, this poem is a celebration of the poet's beloved city which represents boundless strength, dynamic energy, hard labor, zest and laughter.

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   13th August, 2024                       Somaseshu Gutala

                                

A Note on Carl Sandburg, The people’s poet

 

Carl August Sandburg (1878--1967)

                                                   

Sandburg's house, Flat Rock, North carolina

                                  

                   

Remembrance Rock, Galesburg

                      

Carl Sandburg is one of the most popular modern poets of America who won the Pulitzer Prize, two times for his poetry and once for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. As an American poet, biographer, social commentator, journalist and children’s story writer, he was regarded as a major figure in contemporary literature especially for his collected poems like “Chicago Poems”(1916), “Corn huskers” (1918), and “Smoke and Steel” (1920). He wrote four books for children: Rootbaga Stories” (1922), “Rootbaga Pigeons” (1923), “Rootbaga Country” (1929) and “Potato Face (1930) which are filled with fictional characters with a moral message. He modelled his fictional land based on the American Midwest.

 He was born on January 6, 1878, in Galesburg, Illinois. His parents August and Clara Johnson emigrated from the north of Sweden. His father worked as an assistant to a blacksmith in Chicago and Burlington. His early life exposed him to top struggles of life. He held various jobs including a farm laborer, brick layer, driver of a milk wagon, dishwasher and as a soldier. These experiences gave him an insight into the American life in various aspects. He developed ability to write verses that resonated with American speech. He covered a wide range of themes from the American landscape to struggles of working class.

 

 As his family was poor, Sandburg left the school at the age of thirteen and began driving a milk wagon. From the age of fourteen to eighteen, he worked as a porter at the Union Hotel barber shop in Galesburg.  Later he worked in milk industry for eighteen months.  Then he became a bricklayer and a farm laborer on the farms in Kansas. After a brief interval at Lombard college in Galesburg, he became a hotel servant in Denver and later a coal-heaver in Omaha. He started his career as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News. He spent most of his time in Illinois, Wisconsin before moving to North Carolina.

 

At the age of seventeen he served for eight months in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American war.  Later he continued his studies in Lombard for four years but could not receive his degree. After college Sandburg worked as an advertising writer and a newspaper reporter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There he met Lillian Steichen (1833-1977), whom he called Paula and married her. As a socialist sympathizer Sandburg worked for the Socialist-Democrat party and later acted as secretary to the first mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912. The Sandburgs moved to Harbert, Michigan and then to suburban Chicago, Illinois in 1912 where he became the editorial writer for the “Chicago Daily News.” He wrote poetry, history, biography, children’s stories and film reviews.  He collected and edited books of ballads and folklore.  They lived in Evanston, Illinois, before settling at south York Street in Elmhurst, Illinois from 1919 to 1930. Harriet Monroe impressed by the homely speech style of Sandburg written in Whitman-like free verse, published his poems in her journal “Poetry", a magazine of verse.

 

During this time Sandburg wrote Chicago Poems (1916), Corn huskers (1918), Smoke and steel (1920). He became famous with his collection “Chicago Poems (1916). He was awarded Pulitzer Prize in 1919 for his poetry “Corn huskers.” In 1920 he published “Smoke and Steel” where he found beauty in modern industrialism. The folk songs he sang were published in two collections: “The American Songbag” (1927) and “New American Songbag” (1950) as books for children. The family moved to Michigan in 1930.

 

Carl Sandburg, just like Walt Whitman, was an ardent admirer of Abraham Lincoln right from his boyhood. He meticulously collected material from different sources and published Lincoln biography in six volumes. He published “Linclon: The Prairie years” in 1926. In 1929 he published another biography about the life of his brother-in-law, "Steichen, the photographer." In 1932 he published “Mary Lincoln, wife and Widow” which shows his keen interest in Lincoln’s life and career. He published “Lincoln: The war years” (four volumes) in in 1939. He was awarded Pulitzer Prize for his biography “Lincoln: The war years” in 1940.  In 1948 Sandburg published a long novel "Remembrance Rock" which describes the American experience from Plymouth Rock to World War II.

In 1945 he moved to Connemara, a 246-acre rural estate in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Here he lived with his wife, three daughters and two grandchildren. On commemoration of 150^th birth anniversary of Lincoln’s birth on Feb.12, 1959, Congress met in joint session. Sandburg was given a chance to address the audience on this occasion. He received his third Pulitzer Prize for his “Complete Poems” in 1950. He published his final volumes of verse “Harvest Poems” in 1960 and ‘Honey and salt” in 1963. Carl Sandburg passed away on 22^nd July 1967 at his home in Flat Rock, North Carolina. His body was cremated, and ashes were interred beneath a red granite boulder "Remembrance Rock" in the Carl Sandburg Park, Galesburg, Knox County, Illinois. 

 

Lyndon Johnson, President of America, paid tribute to him saying” Carl Sandburg was more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius, he was America.” Sandburg was inducted to the American Poets’ corner at the cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York in 2028.

His poetry is filled with sayings, scraps of anecdotes, conversations, and descriptions of steel mills and farms. He portrayed the living conditions of laborers, workers and their problems. He wrote nearly 1600 poems in his lifetime. Amy Lowell called “Chicago Poems” as “one of the original books this age has produced.” The historian Charles A. Beard called “Abraham Lincoln: the prairie years” a noble monument of American literature.” “Abraham Lincoln; The war years” (first two volumes) was published in 1939. These volumes cover the period from Lincoln’s birth till his election as president of America. These volumes focus mainly on the American civil war period.  He was awarded Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for this biography. A one volume edition was published in 1954. Sandburg collected and classified material for his biography for thirty years and it took another fifteen years to type the material on his typewriter. Americans learned about Lincoln more from Sandburg than from any other American. Some critics commented that his biography was not a well-researched and well-documented. It is neither biography nor history but sentimental poetizing.  But many readers view it as an American epic rather than as a mere biography.

 

He became famous as the singing bard of America with human-driven approach. He uses simple and straightforward language. His poetry bustles with the energy of skyscrapers, chorus girls, and corrupt mayors. His verse moves with the rhythmic pace of Jazz through urban streets of the big city. During Sandburg’s lifetime the mid-western region went through transformation from an agricultural-based economy to industrialized centerpiece of the country.  Like Walt Whitman he welcomed the industrialized city culture despite its few drawbacks. Like other modern poets he forged his unique American style without imitating conventional European style and verse. Along with modern writers like Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, Edgar Lee Masters and Ben Hecht, Sandburg is regarded as a member of the Chicago Literary Renaissance. Sanburg supported Civil rights movement and was honored by NAACP with the silver plaque award as the major prophet of civil rights.

    "Money buys everything except love, personality, freedom, immortality, silence and peace." -- Sandburg.

   "The secret of happiness is to admire without desiring."

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  4th August, 2024                         Somaseshu Gutala

 

 

Who is she?

 

           

                                         

                        

 

1.    She washed my body with no ruffled feelings felt

Like a babe with bare limbs, I rested on bed

I slept yielding to her tender touch; she fed

Me like a bird to her fledglings in nest;

Her soothing presence pacified my pain.

 

2.    Her sunny vibrant smile in morning hours

Brought relief from my present state;

From gloomy thoughts and impending fate;

I gazed with new vision at every flower

I cherished each morsel from delicious plate

Time seemed so swift, I forgot about hours and dates.

 

3.    In evening hours, the wards are brightly lit

The white-coated doctors moved swiftly around

Testing and instructing staff as silence surrounds;

She came again with her usual smile with testing kit

Her hopeful smile more soporific than pills

My eyes closed as sleepy silence fills.

‘

4.    You may explain hers as duty to earn her bread

It may seem routine to your critical mind;

Yet true service shines in being sincere and kind;

Service, something beyond what you have said;

A nobler sentiment dwells beyond living needs

A desire to nurse patients with care indeed.

 

5.    Who is she that serves, you may like to know

Anyone who feels your sufferings and strain;

And uses her skills to keep you free from pain

A humane touch, a gentle smile through her glows

To make patients happy both day and night.

True symbol of mercy who heals our suffering plight. 

 

6.    No personal links she fosters with all

Whoever suffers, quick help she extends

Shows true concern closely like a friend;

Ever ready to attend to your call;

A saint-like attitude in their touch we feel

Whomever they see suffer, they try to heal.

 

7.    She welcomes patients with a smile and assures

 With nourishing words, brings speedy relief

She enlightens our minds with precautions in brief

A sense of dedication in her we find so pure

In spite of filth, and blood she shows no disgust

She keeps our surroundings clean and free from dust.

 

8.    While leaving she smiles a touching farewell

Words not enough to say true gratitude;

She does her duty and not deem herself as great

Her services indeed seem a magic spell

Freed from our sufferings we feel so glad

She seems a merciful messenger sent by God.

      +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  30th July, 2024                           Somaseshu Gutala

 

 

This Night, a Bundle of Dreams

            

                                

           

1.     Life seems a bundle of assorted dreams

 Though bitter and sweet, we can’t but taste;

  Our dreary routine may appear a purposeless waste

  A hidden meaning lies beyond what it seems;

  Every moment we spend awake or asleep

  Shapes our life, an abysmal plunge or a Titanic leap.

 

2.      Boys playing on the shell-scattered shore

  Building castles of sand with playful delight

  Building, unbuilding with joy-a mirthful sight;

  Little gods untouched by rocking roar

  Of ocean brought to my dreaming eyes

  My childhood days of innocence in tearful guise.

 

3.      They played with swelling waves and shells

  Sculpted in curves and painted designs

  Everything they watched as if to study Nature’s sign;

  The fairy tales and fables on them cast a magic spell

   With spontaneous laughter and vibrant zeal;

   Can our prejudiced bosoms oppressed likewise feel?

 

4.      Youth with wayward searching minds wanders free

  Gathering knowledge like a flying bee;

  He feels proud of his strength, laughing with glee;

  Outer charms catch his eyes, but too reckless to see

  Deep into true values, and takes to easy ways;

  Dreaming with high hopes fires his fancy always. 

 

5.     A possessive rebellious nature in youthful teens

Viewing others as passive and out of date;

He likes to pursue his goal and carve his fate

Some rise like stars with hard work and interest keen;

Some spoil their prospects by temptations vain;

Wasting time and causing parents stress and strain.

 

6.    At last compelled to work to earn his bread

Based on his efforts he has to play his part;

Differing so widely from what he dreamt and thought;

As age goes through ups and downs, he has to tread;

Some lucky ones learn lessons of life with ease

Others have to struggle till their temptations cease.

 

7.    They hanker after wealth, power and lust

 Even crossing moral bounds to satisfy their craze

 Competing with others in mad race with rage

 Even risking their health and letting their talents to rust

 Defending their stance, they maintain their distance

 From elders, with no change or repentance.

 

8.    Working in dreary routine many spend their years

Unconcerned about their inmost conscience’ advice

They struggle hard for gains, bound to worldly ties;

For them future is filled with uncertain fears;

They blatantly ignore their health in idle pleasures

To sit calm and contemplate they find no leisure. 

 

9.    Old people with trembling hands and unsteady gait

Sat in wistful mood confined to their cells.

Their eyes dimmed with memories tell

Their hasty mistakes and realization late

Weakened by age and bereft of bosom friends past

They seemed like old dwellings absorbed in glories lost.

 

 10     Incurable complaints pester them, no more strong; 

          Mounting medical bills made them feel insecure

          No more can they travel with confidence sure;

          They call back to their minds their lapses and wrongs;

           I felt disturbed to see their piteous plight;

 Shuddered, as if in a dreadful dream at night.

            *************************

Titanic leap -- strong and powerful leap. According to Greek mythology, the Titans were a race of powerful deities.

 

 1st July 2024                  Somaseshu Gutala

 

      

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lost City

 

     

                                 

                                   

  

                                       

                                      

                                              

1.    A city with lakes spreading thousand petalled delight

Filled with lotus blossoms red, blue and white

Welcoming flying birds with feathers bright

With nimble swimming colored fish in waters clear

With soft fragrant breezes in tranquil atmosphere

The banks dense with green trees and charm

In brief, a fit paradise pure and calm.

 

2.    A city with teeming parks and rows of trees green

With pure salubrious cool breezes clean

A city well-known for beautiful flowers

With plenteous water and drizzling showers

Where tourists come to escape from blazing heat

A city with wide pathways smooth and neat.

 

3.    A city with thriving commerce and trade

Where various artists their talents displayed

Where industries rose without harming Nature’s wealth

Without endangering public health

Where royal patrons inspired modern trends and change

Without violating tradition and cultural range

Where people from different regions live in peace

Sharing their skills and live with harmonious ease. 

 

4.    Where are those thousand blue lakes gone?

Where are those gardens and trees that once shone?

Where are those spacious lawns and bowers green?
Where are those pools and shining wells serene?

Where is that balmy cool breeze fresh and soft

Where are those cool arbors and historic spots?

No merry twittering cheerful sounds of birds I hear

No space to walk through, enjoying fresh air, I fear.

 

5.    What made this cool paradise vanish into thin air?

What now I see a dry, congested city beyond repair

A confused maze of buildings with no space between

Unplanned cancerous spread of skyscrapers seen

The fabled lotus-laden lakes with breezes cool

Encroached and shrunken to stagnant pools.

Gardens and lawns displaced by shops and noisy trade

No broad-branched trees spreading panoramic shade.

 

6.    The highways choked with vehicles, too hard to pass

For hours waiting too hard for people to cross

So many hurdles, too exhausting we feel

The curse of unplanned vision, ignoring public weal

So many lives are lost in this mad rush of traffic indeed

Hasty decisions of selfish minds often mislead.

Now not so easy to set right this chaotic state

Impossible to restore vast space and lakes, too late. 

 

7.    Most of the lakes vanished; those that remain

Became cesspools where effluents are drained

Swelling with fluffy clouds of foam befouling air

No water springs; an arid stretch of blocks everywhere

Thousands of trees hewn and burnt for enough space

For buildings, firms and malls leaving no trace

Loud sounds, tall mansions, and cars, people deemed

True progress: lost treasures of Nature can we redeem?

 

8.    Dried up borewells and rivers and no water-trace

Dry weather with burning heat people have to face

The city overcrowded cannot meet our needs

Traffic rush, pollution and diseases it breeds

Too many firms and industries spoiled the charm

Raising so many problems, dangers and alarm;

Can we bring back the former glory of the past

In this pollution-ridden congested city vast?

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  21st June, 2024                  Somaseshu Gutala

Note : The future fate of any modern ultra-modern cosmopolitan city in our country is portrayed here. Overurbanization with commercial attitude and lack of planning and vision, makes our cities congested and unlivable. Unless urgent and timely measures are taken the modern cities are bound to face many problems which will affect our future generations and disturb the equilibrium of nature endangering the existence of flora and fauna. So let us pay heed to the warnings given by scientists and technological innovators and live in harmony with Nature and limited sources available to mankind.

                                ============== 

                          

 

 

 

WHEN POWER GOES OFF

 

                    

 1.       All of a sudden,  power goes off

           All of a sudden, all signals stop;

           All communications cut off

           All transactions suddenly drop;

           No phone-calls, no messages, no T.V.s

           No whirring sound of gadgets, no movies.

 

2.        The whole city submerged in darkness, dark as hell

           Every dwelling became a prison-cell;

           The whole town plunged into pell-mell;

           No technology showed its magic spell;

          How many days people stay without illumination?

          Like cave-men searching for light in a den.

 

3.       People forgot their basic skills and needs;

          They solely relied on machines and tools

          To get their work done with effortless speed;

          Now no more can they enjoy and be cool;

          Dire necessity drove them crazy and mad

          They searched for candles with heavy feelings sad.

 

4.      They came out of their narrow suffocating cells

         To breathe fresh air and view the wondrous sight

         Of myriad stars shining like candles at night;

         They felt the touch of fresh, cool air and felt so well

         They fell into deep slumber and forgot their strain

         The touch of Nature rejuvenated their spirits again.

 

5.      Till now, heads down and glued to their lifeless tools

         Silent and stiff-lipped they lost their natural ways

         Of communion with others for so many days;

         Little they felt their feelings and slogged like fools;

         They enslaved themselves and lost their talents;

         Depending on machines, too many hours they spent.

 

6.     Their voices felt free to exchange their thoughts;

        Of their feelings with friends and their neighbours;

        They searched for apt phrases with earnest hearts;

        They felt a new sense of freedom, mingling with others;

        A new change in their outlook in intimate touch;

        Can machines better and foster their bonds so much? 

 

7.     With Keen perception surroundings they did behold

         No sense of haste, no machine-driven speed;

         At their own pace they worked with no sense of greed;

         They found a sense of freedom form routine-hold;

         Uncluttered by too many facts they tried to revive

         Their latent skills in order to survive.

 

8.      A short break from their dreary routine

         Gave them respite to see neighbouring sights;

         Never they felt so happy in watching fields and farms;

         Each tree and bush seemed so uncommonly serene;

         A sense of kinship with Nature unaware they found

         Free from deafening city’s blaring sounds.

 

9.      Unguided by too many technical tools

         A fresh vision they acquired from restful ease;

         In simple living they found true contented peace;

         No more bothered by hurried crushing schedule;

         Their dormant creative springs with instinctive insights

         Made them sing and dance with enthusiastic delight. 

 

10.   Their feelings rose with a fresh lease of life

        Their hidden hopes enlivened with new, rising dawn.

        Like flying birds or sprouting buds on the lawn.

        No more they felt restrained by rushing strife.   

       They felt the inner pulse and stood on their feet again.

       They need not compete now for luxuries vain.

 

11.   Too much dependence on machines will drain

        Our inner skills dry up and will rust

        Sheer sloth and craze for luxuries and lust

        Make us exhausted with stress and strain;

        Systems may be perfect but sometimes crack

        Robots may be perfect but sometimes rebel and attack.

 

12.   Be one with Nature and protect Her ever

        Machines, monstrous powers, keep them under control.

        Be not a slave to them; never lose your soul.

        With heartless machines destroy not Nature, never.

        Feel like a human being with blood and flesh.

        Don’t get stuck up like a fly in mechanical mesh.

                          *******************

                                                            Somaseshu Gutala

 This poem is not a tirade against machines and gadgets. Really, technology is an indispensable part of modern man's life. But in his craze for machines and technology and to make his life more comfortable and indolent, man should not become a slave to machines and technology and lose his self-thinking, creativity, traditional and moral values. Materialism and machines enslave man and kill man's humane qualities and empathy. Man should use his wisdom and sense of discrimination to make use of technology within limits and be on his guard to see that machines and technology should not snatch away his creative qualities and humane values. At the same time for every small thing, he should not take the help of machines. He should give priority to self-efforts and individual abilities. He should also think of employability of common people and should not use machines to take away their daily livelihood. Beware of machines and technology. Use them wisely within limits and don't waste your time at the expense of your precious God-given gifts. Do not make your children addicted to mobiles T.V.s and machines. Machines are created by creative intellect and original thinking, vision and imagination. If man gets addicted to machines, he will lose his creative intellect and originality. Then the progress of modern civilization will come to a dead end and progress will come to a dead stop.

                                ***************************

   8th June, 2024                                          Somaseshu Gutala