Chicago is an early poem by the American poet, biographer, and historian Carl Sandburg. It was first published in 1914, in the Chicago-based Poetry magazine, edited by Harriet Monroe. The poem was collected in book form in Sandburg’s Chicago Poems in 1916.
As the title suggests, Sandburg’s poem is a celebration of the city of Chicago. With deliberately bold rhythms and direct language, “Chicago” proclaims both the good and the bad in the city. Chicago is the heart of industry, a city of vibrancy and strength. But it is also a city of crime, brutality, and hunger. Sandburg’s poem demonstrates this duality.
Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling City of the Big Shoulders: They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I have seen your painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys. And they tell me you are crooked and I answer: Yes, it is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to kill again. And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is: On the faces of women and children I have seen the marks of wanton hunger. And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them: Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning. Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities; Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness, Bareheaded, Shoveling, Wrecking, Planning, Building, breaking, rebuilding, Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with white teeth, Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young man laughs, Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has never lost a battle, Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse, and under his ribs the heart of the people, Laughing! Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.
Sandburg’s writings were influenced by Walt Whitman, a great American poet of the late 1800’s. Whitman showed the rich possibilities of free verse, poetry written without a set rhyme scheme or meter (see Whitman, Walt; Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking). Like Whitman, Sandburg saw free verse as a way of celebrating the American democratic character and the voice of the common people. “Chicago” uses strong rhythms and repetitive sounds to further the impact of its bold message. It alternates long and short lines and repeats words and whole phrases. It makes special use of participles (building, breaking, laughing, bragging). These verbs used as adjectives enhance the sense of ongoing activity in the poem.
Sandburg has a special place in American literature. His poetry has a refreshing directness and honesty. His elevation of ordinary people and commonplace things qualifies him as a poet of the people. Carl Sandburg was also a respected Civil War historian, biographer of Abraham Lincoln, and writer of children’s stories.
For more information about Sandburg, see Sandburg, Carl. See also American literature (Realist poetry).
