Carl Sandburg, poet, novelist, biographer, and troubadour of American folk songs. Sandburg is famous for his poetry, of which he wrote much. His "Chicago" poems and his poem "Grass" are at The CMU Poetry Index of Canonical Verse. Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois, on January 6, 1878. During his illustrious life, he became a Pulitzer Prize winning poet. He grew up in the open fields of Illinois, traveled box cars in the Midwest, campaigned for the Socialist party, was a film critic and an advocate for Chicago. His poetry shows his love for Chicago, as expressed in his "Chicago" poems. Sandburg's poetry delves deep into the heart of America, revealing rich, fertile soil at the heart of the country.

An example of Sandburg's richly American poetry is "The Road and the End."

Sandburg's Jester guitar

The Road and The End I SHALL foot it Down the roadway in the dusk, Where shapes of hunger wander And fugitives of pain go by. I shall foot it In the silence of morning, See the night slur into dawn, Hear the slow great winds arise Where tall trees flank the way And shoulder toward the sky. The broken boulders by the road Shall not commemorate my ruin. Regret shall be the gravel under foot. I shall watch for Slim birds swift of wing That go where wind and ranks of thunder Drive the wild processionals of rain. The dust of the traveled road Shall touch my hands and face.

Sandburg's Desk

The poem, "The Road and The End," is Sandburg talking about Americans and our way of life. As America took the hardships brought about by the great depression, so Sandburg's character in this poem takes it and goes with it. Pressing ever onward, never stopping, just like us Americans. Sandburg went through a lot of hard times, two wars and the Great Depression, but he never stopped. He just kept on pushing on, towards the goal, which was waiting for him at the end of a tunnel.

Sandburg lived a long, full, life from 1878 to July 22, 1967. During Sandburg's life he addressed Congress, fought in the Spanish-American war, won a Pulitzer Prize, raised a family, and wrote an amazing two part biography over Abraham Lincoln. When Sandburg died, America lost one of it's poetic greats who fought the good fight, and though succumbing in the end, he still won.

Remembrance Rock  The Sandburgs' Final Resting Place

Bibliography

1. The CMU Poetry Index of Canonical Verse http://eserver.org/poetry/

2. Carl Sandburg http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~roberts/sandburg/home.htm

3. "The Carl Sandburg State Historic Site http://www.misslink.net/misslink/carlsand.htm

4. Niven, Penelope. Carl Sandburg: A Biography . NY: Macmillan, 1991.

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