Chicago Poem

"Chicago" Poem by Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, writer, and historian. He is best known for his poetry, particularly his free-verse poems that celebrated the working-class and the American people.

Chicago became poet Carl Sandburg's adopted home when he was in his early 30s. The son of a poor immigrant family, Sandburg dropped out of school at the age of 13 to help support his parents. After traveling between cities and bouncing from odd job to odd job in his 20s, Sandburg finally found a steady job as a journalist in Chicago. Although he attended college very briefly and dabbled in poetry, Sandburg didn't write professionally until he moved to Chicago.

Chicago completely changed Sandburg's life and career. He memorializes his love for the city in "Chicago" as well as his first major poetry collection Chicago Poems (1916). It was in Chicago Sandburg met Harriet Monroe, the editor of Poetry Magazine. She published many of his poems and encouraged Sandburg to continue writing in free verse, which he became known for. Sandburg lived in Chicago for 11 years before moving to Michigan.

"Chicago" Poem

Below is Carl Sandburg's poem "Chicago" in its entirety.

"Chicago" Poem by Carl Sandburg: Summary

"Chicago" by Carl Sandburg is a poem that celebrates the vitality and strength of the city, while also acknowledging its flaws and challenges. The poem uses vivid and unconventional imagery to paint a portrait of the city and its people and ultimately asserts that Chicago is a place of great importance and pride.

The speaker begins by addressing Chicago and personifying it using the things it is known for. It is "Hog Butcher for the World" (1), "Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat," (2), and "Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler" (3). In essence, it's a developing, tough, burly city.

The speaker then tells Chicago all of the biased, negative things people say about it. They say the city is wicked, crooked, and brutal. The speaker concedes that he himself has witnessed sex work, violence, and starvation in Chicago, so he believes them.

But then the speaker fights back against the people who sneer at Chicago and only see its flaws. He lists all the reasons he loves Chicago: the resilience, pride, and strength within the city. He loves the way Chicago can take anything that is piled unto it and emerge bolder than ever. The city is essentially one with the people who inhabit it. Chicago laughs at the fate the world dictated for it, even as it embraces its status of a scrappy, rough city that butchers pigs, makes tools, stacks wheat, and plays with railroads.

"Chicago" Poem by Carl Sandburg: Analysis

"Chicago" relies heavily on personification and imagery to depict Chicago not as a lifeless town, but a living, breathing force. Anaphora and simile also help to characterize the town of Chicago the speaker holds so dearly, no matter what others say about it.

Personification

The entire poem is full of personification, making Chicago a living, complex person. The poem begins,

Instead of saying that Chicago is a city full of butchers, tool makers, and farmers, Chicago itself is personified as the force doing those things. It is given the titles "Hog Butcher," "Tool Maker," and "Player with Railroads." The fact that these words are capitalized shows that these are titles of respect, like "Doctor." The city embodies the harsh, dirty work its citizens do, and it is a force in itself.

The speaker again personifies Chicago by arguing why he loves the city so much. He says,

It is the city itself that sings and is lively and proud. Chicago might be tough and burly, but it is also powerful and vivid. It is built like a powerful baseball player, hitting home runs over other, softer cities. Chicago is fierce and bold and tough and resilient. It becomes one of its inhabitants as it perfectly embodies middle-class life in the city.

Fig. 1 - The speaker personifies Chicago as a powerful baseball player to show that the city is tough and determined.

Chicago realizes it is not perfect, and just like a person who is constantly working to become the best version of themselves, Chicago is constantly rebuilding itself:

Unlike the people who claim to know Chicago but only see the negative aspects, the city itself is aware of its reputation. It laughs, even as it breaks, builds, and rebuilds parts of itself to best serve its inhabitants. Chicago laughs defiantly at all the people who think they know it when in reality, it is a dynamic, adaptable force that is ever-changing.

Imagery

Interspersed with the personification is heavy imagery, which the speaker uses to contrast most people's idea of Chicago with how the city really is. The speaker knows Chicago has its critics. The speaker uses heavy imagery to depict that he knows the darkness of the city better than even the people who are biased against it:

The imagery of the predatory sex workers, unpunished murderers, and starving innocents shows the speaker is not ignorant to the city's violence. He doesn't view Chicago through rose-colored glasses, believing it is purely good, but he sees it how it really is.

Fig. 2 - The speaker uses the imagery of children with hunger on their faces to show that he realizes Chicago's flaws.

This harsh imagery is quickly replaced by the imagery that depicts how the speaker actually views Chicago. The speaker depicts Chicago as a bold baseball player, a "savage pitted against the wilderness" (12), and a young man laughing "under the terrible burden of destiny" (19). This imagery shows that, while Chicago might have its harshness, it is also rich, prosperous, and resilient.

Simile

The speaker uses similes to show how alive the city truly is. He first compares it to the fierceness of a dog and the cunningness of a savage:

Again, it is the city itself that exhibits these characteristics. It is a living being, not just a place where people live.

Fig. 3 - The speaker uses simile to compare Chicago to a dog with its tongue out.

The speaker uses personification to say that Chicago laughs at the destiny its critics have assigned it. But he uses simile in tandem to show that it laughs triumphantly and defiantly:

Simile once again positions Chicago as a tough, burly force. It will not let its fate be defined for it but will continue to write and rewrite it as it changes alongside its people. It seems to say, let people say what they want because I will overcome it all. Like someone who is not weighed down by loss or a young man who is not burdened by experience and age, Chicago will fight the fate others have assigned it by willpower alone.

Synecdoche

Carl Sandburg famously gave Chicago the nickname "City of the Big Shoulders" in the fifth line of this poem. This nickname functions as a synecdoche because shoulders actually refer to the entire human body. He uses this synecdoche to stress that Chicago is strong and hardworking. Its shoulders are big like a farmhand or laborer's would be after years of tough, physical work. Chicago, as depicted by the people who live there, has big shoulders because it is used to tough, strenuous jobs.

Anaphora and repetition

Lines 18 and 19 are an example of anaphora, as they repeat the words "under the" in quick succession:

This quick repetition sets these ideas up like a list. The speaker has so much to say about Chicago and the things it is able to shoulder that he has to list them.

There are several other cases of repetition throughout the poem, which are used to show that what people think they know about Chicago pales in comparison to the truth of the city. When the speaker is addressing what the critics say about the city, he repeats the words "they tell me" (6-8). This is used to distance himself from "they," showing they are Other and don't truly understand life in the city.

In the poem's last line, the speaker also repeats the titles that personify Chicago in the first stanza. The line reads,

This repetition shows Chicago is proud of its status as a powerful, tough, violent, dynamic, fast-paced, adaptable city. It loves its working-class identity and its inhabitants. And Chicago laughs at those who can't see its beauty amidst the chaos it loves so much.

"Chicago" Poem by Carl Sandburg: Themes

The main themes in "Chicago" are the power of Chicago and the connection between people and place.

Power of Chicago

This poem essentially functions as a love poem to Chicago. Although the speaker acknowledges all of the bad things people have to say about the city, he argues that they are ignorant of the city's true essence.

Chicago isn't just a city of proud, hardworking middle-class men and women. It is an embodiment of their power, strength, and resiliency itself. Chicago comes alive with the power of its people, and it exhibits the exact same qualities they do. Yes, Chicago has its issues. But to only see the problems is to blatantly ignore the power it has inherited from its people and that which constantly redefines and rebuilds the city.

The connection between people and place

By the same token, "Chicago" shows the connection between people and place. This is especially apparent in the poem's first few lines and its last. Place is defined by its connection to people, and people are defined by their connection to place.

The "they" who only see the violence and danger in Chicago are the same people who live in "little soft cities" (11). They don't see the beauty in Chicago because they are accustomed to cities that are safe but lack vibrancy and vitality. In contrast, the people of Chicago are proud of their tough, middle-class identity in Chicago. And Chicago, in turn, proudly adopts their status of "Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation" (23).

"Chicago" Poem by Carl Sandburg: Meaning

Although it gets a bad reputation, Chicago is loved by the people who live there, and it is a powerful force in itself. Outsiders can only see the danger and downfalls of the city. They see the sex workers, hunger, and violence and use that as evidence to condemn the city to its fate. But the people who live there view Chicago in a completely different light.

The people who call Chicago home are connected to it because it is them. It's not just a dirty, violent city but a reflection of everything its people are. It is hardworking, burly, resilient, and tough. It is proud of its ability to sing in the face of danger and laugh at the fate others have given it. In essence, the people of Chicago love it because it is a powerful force that embodies the power of the middle class.