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 all countries who send their young men to war.
The order is repeated, and expanded upon, exhorting readers to use a shovel. A shovel is a tool which needs only fast, rough work - crudely carried out - such as dealing with debris, mud or muck. The lives of the young men, their personalities, hopes and dreams have been reduced to unwanted debris-nuisance which must be quickly cleaned up and hidden - a nuisance which is even preventing the grass from doing its work to grow and cover all.
Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?
An unusually long run-on line comes next suggesting the speeding unheeding motion of modern transport past the place of death. 'Two years, ten years' implies that time doesn't matter - time too is ambivalent and indifferent to the poignant waste of young lives. The people who come after are ignorant of any sacrifices made on their behalf, rushing to get on with their lives and not even knowing or recognising the fields of the fallen through which they are speeding.
A series of innocent-seeming questions from the passengers,the people of the future, start to bring the poem to a close. The dialogue is reminiscent of a populace questioning its government. The narrator simply answers again that he is the grass and must get on with his covering work.
The strong voice on death through war can be understood through looking at the development of Sanburg's views on the world. While at college he joined a literary club called the Poor Poets Club, in order to dicuss literature and current events, his talents led him to develop a name for himself as a political mover, as a reporter and as a poet and writer in his own right, and to absorb some of the socialist views of those who championed him.
Carl Sandburg then started to concern himself with the cause of the American worker and in 1907 began to help out with producing and distributing political leaflets. He married another party supporter, Lilian Steichen. In his work, Sandburg reported for the Chicago Daily News, covering, particularly, issues to do with labor struggles and workers rights, later writing his own feature. He also wrote about the profound issues relating to the Chicago Race Riots. Carl Sandburg died in North Carolina in 1967 and his ashes were scattered at his birthplace, according to his wishes at Galesburg.
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