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This poetry analysis of the poem Grass by Carl Sandburg will focus mainly on the meaning of the poem, since that is what students so often require first. In order to do this we will also look at the circumstances of Carl Sandburg's working life, to put the message portrayed in the poem in context. This will give students some idea behind the popularity of this poet's work with modern day media fans such as music bands and protest groups.

The poem 'Grass' begins:

PILE the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.

Shovel them under and let me work

I am the grass.

Let me work.

The title of the poem is short and plain and matter-of-fact. This is the keynote and sets the scene for the workaday style and 'plain-speaking' qualities of the rest of the poem. it is a bald, a sudden statement, coldly objective and minimalist.

The first word is, unusually, in capitals. We may take from this 'attention-grabbing' tactic that the poet has a special message to deliver. A pile is also a strong image of discard and begins the entire poem. The words Austerlitz (Slavkov) and Waterloo (Belgium) reinforce the unnatural death idea by reminding us of battles. Their random grouping also suggests that the particular merits or demerits of any 'just' battle are irrelevant - it could be any battle, any country, any religion, any century - the message may apply to all.

Next, following so swiftly on, we see what the pile comprises. Only four words in and we have death, and we guess that it must be an unnatural form of death as it has resulted in a collection of corpses. We realise that the word 'pile' is a verb not an noun - and is an order at that. Orders are reminiscent of subordinance, such as that which is required to discipline an army of men into one cohesive synchronised unit. Some may call it a killing-machine.

And pile them high at Gettysburg

And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.

Shovel them under and let me work.

But who is giving the order to shovel the bodies into the ground? We realise that the aforementioned 'Grass' of the title, is in fact the narrator. This narrator speaks in an irritable, businlesslike workaholic kind of style - too busy to stop for niceties such as mourning the passing away of a human being who once had a life, a family, a sense of humor.

So, what IS the job of the grass, that is so important? It is to cover up - perhaps the poet is taking this a bit further by suggesting a delibeate cover-up? France, America and Belgium are all included, suggesting this may apply to

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