Student Question
How can one interpret the beginning of Carl Sandburg's poem?
They have yarns
Of a skyscraper so tall they had to put hinges
On the two top stories so to let the moon go by...
Quick answer:
The beginning of Carl Sandburg's poem uses hyperbole to highlight America's progress during the industrial era. The "yarns" or stories about a skyscraper so tall it needs hinges for the moon to pass reflect the era's architectural advancements, symbolizing American growth and innovation. Sandburg's depiction of skyscrapers and other fantastical elements in his poems serves to capture the beauty and progress of industrialization, mirroring his own journey from an uneducated background to literary prominence.
Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967) lived and wrote during the
Gilded Age, a period of significant economic growth due to
industrialization, as well as of corruption, that spanned between the 1870s to
the early 1900s. Hence, industrialization significantly
influenced Sandburg. Yet, unlike many, he used his poetry to
find and capture the beauty of industrialization rather than
just the corruption.
As he saw it, industrialization reflected America's growth . He was the son of uneducated parents who emigrated from Sweden to America. His father could not write; his mother could read in Swedish but not write. Sandburg himself remained uneducated until a fellow soldier serving with him in the Spanish-American War influenced him to enroll in Lombard College of Galesburg Illinois, after the war. From there, he began a journey that led him to become one of the most influential writers and speakers of his time. At one...
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point, when noting the fact that neither of his parents could write but he himself had progressed enough in his career to write about Abraham Lincoln, he states, "I guess that somewhere along in this you'll find a story of America." Thestory of America is precisely what we find in many of his
poems; it's a story of progress.
We see a story of progress in his poem beginning with the
lines, "They have yarns / Of a skyscraper so tall they had to put hinges / On
the two top stories so to let the moon go by." Here, the term yarns
can be translated to mean stories. He is beginning his poem with a story of
architects having built a skyscraper so tall that the moon would crash right
into it along its orbit if the architects had not put hinges on the top two
floors so that they could open up to let the moon pass through the building,
similarly to a drawbridge. The discovery of using steel frames and reinforced
concrete to make walls taller enabled architects to design skyscrapers. Hence,
the story of designing skyscrapers fits his American
story of progress, just like his own story of education fits
the story of American progress. His poem continues to speak of gigantic crops,
of improved pancakes, of a man riding a cyclone like a bull, and many others.
Each reference to a tale is meant to show how much society has
progressed.
References