They Will Say
by Carl Sandburg
This poem is from his 1916 collection, Chicago Poems. Click here for the text.
Discussion questions:
1. Is the tone of the poem positive or negative?2. What are the "glimmers" referred to in line 3?
3. What is important about the term "empty-hearted" at the end of line 6?
4. Read J.G. Johansen’s article “Sandburg’s ‘They Will Say’” online (on-campus only). What evidence supports Johansen's thesis, that the poem "is carefully crafted with considerable attention to fine detail and positive rhetorical effect"?
Created by Stan Galloway 2
2 July 2005. Last updated 20 June 2006. Contact me at sgallowa@bridgewater.edu