Summary
'Chicago' is a poem by Carl Sandburg. It depicts the excitement of the cities, more specifically, Chicago during the Modern Era. It focuses on the twenties, a time of mass energy as people moved away from the conservative aspects of America. People began to experiment with new things, like the flapper girl.
Reflection
'Chicago' reveals the celebration of youth through new ideas of life. The societal changes that occurred were experimental and backlashes to the past views. In the poem, the people of the city are described as "a stormy, husky, brawny laugh." This is the presence of the youth. Laughter is a noticeable action of happiness. This laughter is further descreibed as terrible, ignorant, and bragging. This is the context of the youth's presence as precieved by the old. The youth has become vivid and magnetic through experimentation with "shoveling, wrecking, planning, building, breaking, and rebuilding." In relation to the American dream of true identity, the experimentation of the time made for the creation of identity. Finding what works for each American dream-for each identity is the revelation of that identity.
He Said it Best
"Come and show me another city with lifter head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and stron and cunning... Pitted against the widerness, Bareheaded, shoveling, wrecking, planning, building, breaking, rebuilding..."