Here is a revolver It has an amazing language all its own. It delivers unmistakable ultimatums. It is the last word. A simple, little human forefinger can tell a terrible story with it. Hunger, fear, revenge, robbery, hide behind it. It is the claw of the jungle made quick and powerful. It is the club […]
Southern Pacific by Carl Sandburg
Huntington sleeps in a house six feet long. Huntington dreams of railroads he built and owned. Huntington dreams of ten thousand men saying: Yes, sir. Blithery sleeps in a house six feet long. Blithery dreams of rails and ties he laid. Blithery dreams of saying to Huntington: Yes, sir. Huntington, Blithery, sleep in houses six […]
Snatch of Sliphorn Jazz by Carl Sandburg
Are you happy? It’s the only way to be, kid. Yes, be happy, it’s a good nice way to be. But not happy-happy, kid, don’t be too doubled-up doggone happy. It’s the doubled-up doggone happy- happy people … bust hard … they do bust hard … when they bust. Be happy, kid, go to it, […]
Grass by Carl Sandburg
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo, Shovel them under and let me work– I am the grass; I cover all. And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is […]
Fire-logs by Carl Sandburg
Nancy Hanks dreams by the fire; Dreams, and the logs sputter, And the yellow tongues climb. Red lines lick their way in flickers. Oh, sputter, logs. Oh, dream, Nancy. Time now for a beautiful child. Time now for a tall man to come.
Freedom Is A Habit by Carl Sandburg
Freedom is a habit and a coat worn some born to wear it some never to know it. Freedom is cheap or again as a garment is so costly men pay their lives rather than not have it. Freedom is baffling: men having it often know not they have it till it is gone and […]
Happiness by Carl Sandburg
I asked professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness. And I went to famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men. They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was trying to fool with them. And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered […]
Mag by Carl Sandburg
I wish to God I never saw you, Mag. I wish you never quit your job and came along with me. I wish we never bought a license and a white dress For you to get married in the day we ran off to a minister And told him we would love each other and […]
A Fatherhood excerpt from The People, Yes by Carl Sandburg
A father sees a son nearing manhood. What shall he tell that son? ‘Life is hard; be steel; be a rock.’ And this might stand him for the storms and serve him for humdrum and monotony and guide him amid sudden betrayals and tighten him for slack moments. ‘Life is a soft loam; be gentle; […]
Prayers of Steel by Carl Sandburg
Lay me on an anvil, O God. Beat me and hammer me into a crowbar. Let me pry loose old walls. Let me lift and loosen old foundations. Lay me on an anvil, O God. Beat me and hammer me into a steel spike. Drive me into the girders that hold a skyscraper together. Take […]