Poetry for Young People: Carl Sandburg

Free Verse Styling


Sandburg, Carl. Poetry for Young People. Sterling Pub. Co., p1995.
Bolin, Frances S. (editor), Arcella, Steven (illustrator).

ISBN:0-8069-0818-1

Poetry Review:
Carl Sandburg is known at the "Roaming Hobo" of American poetry, as Sandburg's poems describe the turbulent changes and rocky road of American History throughout the Great Depression, Native American, and several international wars. But just as much as Sandburg describes struggles of the common people, he also has the ability to demonstrate his ability to be fun and loving, especially when discussing his own account of his family and in particular his daughters. Sandburg's free styling evokes a clear picture of the struggle many common people shared when America entered the 20th Century, whether these were farmers or city folk, struggles were the same for all.

Poetry Excerpt: "Last Answers"
I wrote a poem on the mist
And a woman asked me what I meant by it.
I had thought til then only of the beauty of the mist, how
pearl and gray of it mix and reel,
And change the drab shanties with lighted lamps at
evening into points of mystery quivering with color.

I answered:
The whole worlds was mist once long ago and some day
it will all go back to mist,
Our skulls and lungs are more water than bone and tissue
And all poets love dust and mist because all the last
answers
Go running back to dust and mist.


Poem Introduction to Children: This particular poem would be best suited for older students in high school who can relate to the cycle of life and death, the meaning of questioning and finding answers to our significance on earth.
Before reading the book, students will need to understand what free verse poetry is about, describing that it uses strong imagery to convey a particular emotion within the reader through the use of language and words. Students will also need a vocabulary review, in particular: mist, shanty, lighted lamps, and quivering.
Read the poem and begin by asking what the tone or mood is of the poem, how does it make them feel. Explore these feelings.
Then discuss what underlying meaning of life and death and the need to search for answers and the meaning of life.