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【Abstract】Chicago is Sandburg’s masterpiece. This thesis tries to analyze the poem from an artistic angle. It means to give a better understanding of Sandburg’s delight in violence and his membership in the industrial workers of the world.
【Key Words】Sandburg Chicago Artistic Analysis
Sandburg is a revered figure in American literature. In his well-known poem Chicago, Sandburg gave us his opinion of this bustling, sprawling city and celebrated the city for its pride, energy, and optimism. As some critics said, “Chicago, had seemed another overgrown industrial city until Sandburg began to apostrophize its monstrosity with maternal indulgence. He did this directly in his poem ‘Chicago’, where he asks, ‘Let me be the great nail holding a sky scraper through blue might into white star.’”
In this poem, Sandburg mentions hog butcher, railroads and other objects and activities with an intensity that reflects the bustling urban landscape. In Chicago, Sandburg wants to express such a theme that Chicago is such a good place full of vitality, energy, brutality and coarseness that he is pride of, and he seeks to express his sincere and abiding love for this city and the dignity of common people, in whom he finds the spirit and value of American democracy. As writing in his letter to his friend, he said: “It is so good a place for a healthy man who wants to watch the biggest, most intense, brutal and complicated game in the world.”
The title “Chicago” gives us a very clear impression that the poem is depicting a city in America. According to our common knowledge that Chicago now is the second largest city in America and it is full of energy and vitality. The speaker chooses the name of a city as the title to tell the reader the subject of the poem directly and express his deep and abiding love for this city.
The first four lines give us the general impression that Chicago is famous for meat packing, tool manufacturing, business that processed grain, railroads, and shipping industries. The speaker uses metaphor here. All these comprise a vivid picture of a prosperous city to our readers. Then from line 6 to line 8 the speaker gives us another vivid picture of the unfavorable aspects of the city. As people say the city is wicked with painted women, crooked with gunmen, brutal with hungry women and children. Sandburg admits these: prostitution, gangsters, and terrible poverty. Why he admits these because there is a very strong comparison between these details and the details in the following part. Despite the ugliness of the city, the poet still admires Chicago and feels proud of it. Because he believes that the good is much stronger than the ugliness, and he believes that Chicago is better than other cities. Sandburg shows his defense of Chicago against people who “sneer” at the city. Beginning with line 10 till the end, the poem is addressed to those people. He counters in line 10 that there is no other city with such energy and life. According to him, the admirable characteristics of the city include its pride, vitality, energy, coarseness, strength, and cunning. All these details contribute to emphasize that Chicago is a brave, energetic, coarse as well as pride city, so do the common people in it. At the same time, the speaker expresses his idea that he believes strongly in workers’ rights, and has a great optimism about his ability to change the fates of common people. In line 18, the speaker chooses the phase “terrible burden of destiny” to refer to the fact that being an important industrial center of the country, Chicago is characterized by hard, unpleasant labor. The word “laughing” is repeated for several times as the linking word in line 18 to 23 and to help to focus the optimism of the city. The final line ties the poem together by repeating the epithets for the city with which the poem begins.
The poem ends with the characteristic sound of the city--laughter--the loud, proud, life-affirming sound of “the heart of the people.” The laughter symbolizes the optimism of the city of Chicago; the satisfactions to be gained form hard, unpleasant work; the happy, excited feeling that greater things are still to come. The ending of the poem shows that the vitality of the city outweighs its flaws and that Chicago as line 21 suggests is a truly democratic city, reflecting the urges and characteristics of its people.
Additionally, there are some other symbols in this poem. In line 18, the “dust” on the giant’s mouth symbolizes the litter and disorder of a great industrial city and also the fact that the city is too busy to keep everything neat and clean. This also proves that Chicago is full of vitality and energy. The “white teeth” may symbolize the flashes of dazzling beauty of an industrial city. In line 21, we get to know that Chicago is proud to be alive, proud of its energy, vitality and hard work. “The people” are people who work with their hands in construction, in plants, and in factories.
In terms of figure of speech, we can find the central figure of speech in this poem is the personification of Chicago. In line 6, “you” is Chicago. The speaker uses a direct address to the personified city. This is an example of apostrophe in which the speaker tries to express his sincere and abiding love to this city and the people in this city. Within the central personification appear various similes and metaphors, each helping create a composite picture of the city. Such as Chicago looks like a big, strong, tough young man with no shirt, white teeth, and a dirty face. He is bold and wild, aggressive and cunning, proud, and hard-working. In line 11, Chicago is compared to a tall bold slugger. The comparison tells that Chicago is big, brave, coarse, strong, and cunning, like a prize fighter. In contrast to such a fierce giant, other cities seem small and weak. The function of the comparison here is to emphasize the vitality, strength, and braveness of Chicago. In line 18, Chicago is compared to a fierce dog with tongue lapping for action. The speaker here uses simile to tell us that Chicago is as wild and energetic and ready for adventure as a panting dog. In addition to being compared to a bold slugger and a fierce dog, Chicago is “cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness”. It is a young man covered with dirt “laughing with white teeth”. Besides, the speaker uses epithets in the first four lines at the very beginning of the poem. And the final line ties the poem together by repeating the epithets for the city with which the poem begins. The function of the repetition here is to echo and emphasize the braveness, strength, prosperousness of Chicago. We can get a deeper impression that the speaker is very pound of this city, and his strong respect, optimism and hope for the common man in this city. In this poem, Sandburg’s description of Chicago uses the following images: firstly, images of evil: painted women under the gas lamps, the killer who goes free, the women and children whose faces show hunger; secondly, images of energy: the hog butcher, the big shoulders, the dog with tongue lapping for action, bareheaded, shoveling, laughing with white teeth; thirdly, images of planning and scheming: the wrecking and rebuilding, the cunning like that of a savage pitted against the wilderness. The imagery in poem helps to emphasize the unfavorable aspects and the favorable aspects. More importantly, all the images are visual. They put our readers “right in the scene itself”3, making us see and hear what is there.
Another amazing thing about this poem is the diction: Sandburg’s very vivid use of slang. He can use slang to serious themes to deepen, not to travesty them. “Hog butcher for the world”--This is a slangy way of saying that Chicago is the greatest center of meat packing in the world. It vividly conveys the idea of coarseness and strenuous activity, and the great amount of this work that goes on in Chicago. “Slugger”--This conveys the idea of violence, determined energy, better than any other words could. “Bragging”--This is a stronger word than “boasting”; it conveys the sense of noise and commotion along with its basic idea of intense egotism.
In Chicago, by using kinds of devices, Sandburg directly expresses his delight in violence and his membership in the industrial workers of the world, especially, his trust in his fellow countrymen’s ability to handle what might come.
References：
[1]Ellmann,Richard, and Clair Robert O’The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Edition.2. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.1988.
[2]Ellmann, Richard, and Clair Robert O’.270.
[3]Drury, John. Creating Poetry. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books.1991.
【Key Words】Sandburg Chicago Artistic Analysis
Sandburg is a revered figure in American literature. In his well-known poem Chicago, Sandburg gave us his opinion of this bustling, sprawling city and celebrated the city for its pride, energy, and optimism. As some critics said, “Chicago, had seemed another overgrown industrial city until Sandburg began to apostrophize its monstrosity with maternal indulgence. He did this directly in his poem ‘Chicago’, where he asks, ‘Let me be the great nail holding a sky scraper through blue might into white star.’”
In this poem, Sandburg mentions hog butcher, railroads and other objects and activities with an intensity that reflects the bustling urban landscape. In Chicago, Sandburg wants to express such a theme that Chicago is such a good place full of vitality, energy, brutality and coarseness that he is pride of, and he seeks to express his sincere and abiding love for this city and the dignity of common people, in whom he finds the spirit and value of American democracy. As writing in his letter to his friend, he said: “It is so good a place for a healthy man who wants to watch the biggest, most intense, brutal and complicated game in the world.”
The title “Chicago” gives us a very clear impression that the poem is depicting a city in America. According to our common knowledge that Chicago now is the second largest city in America and it is full of energy and vitality. The speaker chooses the name of a city as the title to tell the reader the subject of the poem directly and express his deep and abiding love for this city.
The first four lines give us the general impression that Chicago is famous for meat packing, tool manufacturing, business that processed grain, railroads, and shipping industries. The speaker uses metaphor here. All these comprise a vivid picture of a prosperous city to our readers. Then from line 6 to line 8 the speaker gives us another vivid picture of the unfavorable aspects of the city. As people say the city is wicked with painted women, crooked with gunmen, brutal with hungry women and children. Sandburg admits these: prostitution, gangsters, and terrible poverty. Why he admits these because there is a very strong comparison between these details and the details in the following part. Despite the ugliness of the city, the poet still admires Chicago and feels proud of it. Because he believes that the good is much stronger than the ugliness, and he believes that Chicago is better than other cities. Sandburg shows his defense of Chicago against people who “sneer” at the city. Beginning with line 10 till the end, the poem is addressed to those people. He counters in line 10 that there is no other city with such energy and life. According to him, the admirable characteristics of the city include its pride, vitality, energy, coarseness, strength, and cunning. All these details contribute to emphasize that Chicago is a brave, energetic, coarse as well as pride city, so do the common people in it. At the same time, the speaker expresses his idea that he believes strongly in workers’ rights, and has a great optimism about his ability to change the fates of common people. In line 18, the speaker chooses the phase “terrible burden of destiny” to refer to the fact that being an important industrial center of the country, Chicago is characterized by hard, unpleasant labor. The word “laughing” is repeated for several times as the linking word in line 18 to 23 and to help to focus the optimism of the city. The final line ties the poem together by repeating the epithets for the city with which the poem begins.
The poem ends with the characteristic sound of the city--laughter--the loud, proud, life-affirming sound of “the heart of the people.” The laughter symbolizes the optimism of the city of Chicago; the satisfactions to be gained form hard, unpleasant work; the happy, excited feeling that greater things are still to come. The ending of the poem shows that the vitality of the city outweighs its flaws and that Chicago as line 21 suggests is a truly democratic city, reflecting the urges and characteristics of its people.
Additionally, there are some other symbols in this poem. In line 18, the “dust” on the giant’s mouth symbolizes the litter and disorder of a great industrial city and also the fact that the city is too busy to keep everything neat and clean. This also proves that Chicago is full of vitality and energy. The “white teeth” may symbolize the flashes of dazzling beauty of an industrial city. In line 21, we get to know that Chicago is proud to be alive, proud of its energy, vitality and hard work. “The people” are people who work with their hands in construction, in plants, and in factories.
In terms of figure of speech, we can find the central figure of speech in this poem is the personification of Chicago. In line 6, “you” is Chicago. The speaker uses a direct address to the personified city. This is an example of apostrophe in which the speaker tries to express his sincere and abiding love to this city and the people in this city. Within the central personification appear various similes and metaphors, each helping create a composite picture of the city. Such as Chicago looks like a big, strong, tough young man with no shirt, white teeth, and a dirty face. He is bold and wild, aggressive and cunning, proud, and hard-working. In line 11, Chicago is compared to a tall bold slugger. The comparison tells that Chicago is big, brave, coarse, strong, and cunning, like a prize fighter. In contrast to such a fierce giant, other cities seem small and weak. The function of the comparison here is to emphasize the vitality, strength, and braveness of Chicago. In line 18, Chicago is compared to a fierce dog with tongue lapping for action. The speaker here uses simile to tell us that Chicago is as wild and energetic and ready for adventure as a panting dog. In addition to being compared to a bold slugger and a fierce dog, Chicago is “cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness”. It is a young man covered with dirt “laughing with white teeth”. Besides, the speaker uses epithets in the first four lines at the very beginning of the poem. And the final line ties the poem together by repeating the epithets for the city with which the poem begins. The function of the repetition here is to echo and emphasize the braveness, strength, prosperousness of Chicago. We can get a deeper impression that the speaker is very pound of this city, and his strong respect, optimism and hope for the common man in this city. In this poem, Sandburg’s description of Chicago uses the following images: firstly, images of evil: painted women under the gas lamps, the killer who goes free, the women and children whose faces show hunger; secondly, images of energy: the hog butcher, the big shoulders, the dog with tongue lapping for action, bareheaded, shoveling, laughing with white teeth; thirdly, images of planning and scheming: the wrecking and rebuilding, the cunning like that of a savage pitted against the wilderness. The imagery in poem helps to emphasize the unfavorable aspects and the favorable aspects. More importantly, all the images are visual. They put our readers “right in the scene itself”3, making us see and hear what is there.
Another amazing thing about this poem is the diction: Sandburg’s very vivid use of slang. He can use slang to serious themes to deepen, not to travesty them. “Hog butcher for the world”--This is a slangy way of saying that Chicago is the greatest center of meat packing in the world. It vividly conveys the idea of coarseness and strenuous activity, and the great amount of this work that goes on in Chicago. “Slugger”--This conveys the idea of violence, determined energy, better than any other words could. “Bragging”--This is a stronger word than “boasting”; it conveys the sense of noise and commotion along with its basic idea of intense egotism.
In Chicago, by using kinds of devices, Sandburg directly expresses his delight in violence and his membership in the industrial workers of the world, especially, his trust in his fellow countrymen’s ability to handle what might come.
References：
[1]Ellmann,Richard, and Clair Robert O’The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry. Edition.2. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.1988.
[2]Ellmann, Richard, and Clair Robert O’.270.
[3]Drury, John. Creating Poetry. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books.1991.