Carl Sandburg (1878–1967)

It’s obvious from this collection why Sandburg counts as one of the best-loved American poets of the mid-20th century. Uncompromising but very approachable poems tackling the Big Topics (love, death, etc.) in disarmingly simple language. His free verse veers into Whitmanesque rant in one or two places, notably the first-person list poem “Timesweep” that ends the collection, but that seems to be forgivable for an American poet, and he does also demonstrate quite clearly that he can do show more short and pithy when he wants to.
There are two wonderful takes on the old chestnut “what is love?” in the title poem and “Little word, little white bird”, there are a few glimpses of Lake Michigan scenery, and there is a surprising amount of mineral imagery going on — Sandburg clearly had a thing about metals and precious stones. Very enjoyable, and a book I will certainly dip into again in the future.

Is the key to love in passion, knowledge, affection?
All three—along with moonlight, roses, groceries,
givings and forgivings, gettings and forgettings,
keepsakes and room rent,
pearls of memory along with ham and eggs.

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Sandburg is a writer of poetic, flowing prose. His research was deep and wide. His biography of Lincoln, then, became the biography of a generation, either in his multi-volume version, or the abridged one-volume version here. Sandburg's Lincoln is a man of principle, always fond of a joke, a user of parables to make points, and a competent war leader. This Lincoln is free of some of the psychoanalytical musings of later biographers, or the charges of racism, or a whole host of modern show more biographical conventions.

A solid read, engaging too. I believe you must first read Sandburg's biography of Lincoln before you go on and read more modern bios. It allows you to see how our perceptions of Lincoln and what makes a good biography has changed over time. Like me, too, you may find your admiration and appreciation for Lincoln growing too as you read.

This illustrated edition is richly and copiously illustrated with portraits of figures mentioned, drawings of battles, images of campaign buttons, etc. It uses the text of the standard Sandburg abridgment and finds the illustrations to suit. The editor of the illustrations, however, is not always quite helpful. Some portraits, for instance, aren't properly described. Like, when mentioning Grant at the beginning of the war, and image of Grant is depicted that was taken after the war. This is not noted. Wrong rank and wrong look (Grant's first Civil War portrait is hilariously horrendous compared to the later image he projected). Joseph Johnston next to him is from a post-war picture, he's all gray. Another example. The Deringer pistol Booth used to assassinate Lincoln is captioned: "The revolver used by John Wilkes Booth..." Of course, it is NOT a revolver. So you must take the illustrations with a grain of salt. The text is double-columned and easy enough to read. A good adjunct to Sandburg's bio, or, get this. You get Sandburg's fine text and illustrations too. show less

Sandburg is a writer of poetic, flowing prose. His research was deep and wide. His biography of Lincoln, then, became the biography of a generation, either in his multi-volume version, or the abridged one-volume version here. Sandburg's Lincoln is a man of principle, always fond of a joke, a user of parables to make points, and a competent war leader. This Lincoln is free of some of the psychoanalytical musings of later biographers, or the charges of racism, or a whole host of modern show more biographical conventions.

A solid read, engaging too. I believe you must first read Sandburg's biography of Lincoln before you go on and read more modern bios. It allows you to see how our perceptions of Lincoln and what makes a good biography has changed over time. Like me, too, you may find your admiration and appreciation for Lincoln growing too as you read.

This abridgment has nice, old-fashioned text, a short note on sources, and an index. Some tiny photographs are strewn throughout the text here and there. show less

Don't let the mediocre rating fool you -- this book has moments of breathtaking beauty, sandwiched between repetitive and even silly declarations of love between Carl Sandburg and his future wife.

This collection of letters covering the 6-month courtship of Sandburg and Lilian Steichen, plus some poems, fragments of poems, and early versions of poems never subsequently anthologized, breathes with the head-over-heels enthusiasm of young love. As such, it can be jejune and even cloying at times show more -- how often can one read that the object of affection is "beautiful", "perfect", "brave", "genius", "loving", and so forth before one's blood sugar level reaches dangerous heights?

However, it is well worth keeping by anyone interested in Sandburg's life and work. When they met in 1908, he was working as an organizer and recruiter for the Socialist Democratic Party. His (ultimately, their) dedication to the reforms then being promoted by the party (mostly dealing with wage, hour, and safety issues for laborers) form most of the book not devoted to professions of passion.

What makes it valuable are the otherwise unavailable poems, scattered through Sandburg's letters to Lilian, with a few published in one of the appendices (along with some of his SDP writing). Most readers are familiar with Sandburg's "city of big shoulders" writing; fewer know that he could also write deeply passionate love poems. To see that ability emerging in a young man barely 30 years old, is deeply moving.

Make space on your poetry shelf for this one. show less