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Honey and Salt
A collection of 77 new lyrical poems testifying to man's courage, frailty, and tenderness
111 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1963
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About the author
Carl Sandburg
745 books332 followersFree verse poems of known American writer Carl August Sandburg celebrated American people, geography, and industry; alongside his six-volume biography
Abraham Lincoln
(1926-1939), his collections of poetry include
Smoke and Steel
(1920).
This best editor won Pulitzer Prizes. Henry Louis Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_San...
This best editor won Pulitzer Prizes. Henry Louis Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_San...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
July 14, 2008
While poetry never became as central to my reading tastes as prose, I can get into it if it's reasonably accessible and expresses ideas and/or feelings I can relate to. (To be "accessible," it doesn't necessarily have to spell out its meaning as explicitly as a prose essay would, because that's not the nature of poetry; it often communicates, just as prose fiction also often does, by indirection, symbolism and appeal to emotions, enabling the reader to intuit the deeper meaning with more mental impact than would be achieved if it were baldly spelled out. But to do this, the reader --at least, this reader :-)-- still has to have some objective basis in coherent language to work with!) Sandburg's poetry eminently meets both tests!
All the poetry here is free verse; so, if your theory of poetry is like Percy's in The Scarlet Pimpernel ("It ain't a poem if it don't rhyme"), this wouldn't be the poetry book for you. But for Sandburg, free verse is never an excuse for bad writing. His poems are direct and simple, often lyrical and beautiful, and always expressive. My only regret is that I don't own a copy (I checked it out from a library), so I don't have a copy in front of me to identify my favorite ones --I can remember the poems, but, alas, not the titles! (You'll just have to read it yourself and pick out your own favorites. :-) )
All the poetry here is free verse; so, if your theory of poetry is like Percy's in The Scarlet Pimpernel ("It ain't a poem if it don't rhyme"), this wouldn't be the poetry book for you. But for Sandburg, free verse is never an excuse for bad writing. His poems are direct and simple, often lyrical and beautiful, and always expressive. My only regret is that I don't own a copy (I checked it out from a library), so I don't have a copy in front of me to identify my favorite ones --I can remember the poems, but, alas, not the titles! (You'll just have to read it yourself and pick out your own favorites. :-) )
June 8, 2021
I could have sworn I read this collection once before and liked it, years ago, but I must have been mistaken.
About a dozen of these 77 poems are really good. The rest are nothing - a few vaguely evocative lines hung loosely together, followed most often by a square of dots on the page, then another set of vaguely evocative lines hung loosely together on some completely unrelated subject.
I realize Sandburg was a celebrated writer in his own time, but only during the heyday of free verse could such scattered scribbles be celebrated as finished work. This is exactly the kind of "poetry" that made the Boomers and every generation since believe that they don't like poetry. It reads like Sandburg published without hesitation or revisitation the first phrases that fell out of his pen and into a journal of poetic doodles. He really likes to pass off the obvious, especially tautologies, as profound, and has a recurring parlor trick about smashing adjectives together for descriptions of weather and sky [the term for this escapes me - kenning is the closest I can think of but what Sandburg does isn't kenning]. The collection isn't loathsome - it was pleasant enough that I read the whole thing - but rather an exercise in non sequitor. You'll hear poems at least as good, and often better, in practically any undergraduate creative writing seminar.
About a dozen of these 77 poems are really good. The rest are nothing - a few vaguely evocative lines hung loosely together, followed most often by a square of dots on the page, then another set of vaguely evocative lines hung loosely together on some completely unrelated subject.
I realize Sandburg was a celebrated writer in his own time, but only during the heyday of free verse could such scattered scribbles be celebrated as finished work. This is exactly the kind of "poetry" that made the Boomers and every generation since believe that they don't like poetry. It reads like Sandburg published without hesitation or revisitation the first phrases that fell out of his pen and into a journal of poetic doodles. He really likes to pass off the obvious, especially tautologies, as profound, and has a recurring parlor trick about smashing adjectives together for descriptions of weather and sky [the term for this escapes me - kenning is the closest I can think of but what Sandburg does isn't kenning]. The collection isn't loathsome - it was pleasant enough that I read the whole thing - but rather an exercise in non sequitor. You'll hear poems at least as good, and often better, in practically any undergraduate creative writing seminar.
April 9, 2009
Sandburg's poems read like fluid conversations about love, life, and death. If it's even possible, which now I am convinced that it is, the title poem captures the essence of love perfectly. Read it aloud. It is one of my favorites.
June 3, 2012
This volume, written toward the end of Sandburg's life, is vibrant in its imagery, and full of lines that stop you in your tracks. Sandburg has a way of juxtaposing beautiful, peaceful nature against themes that are unexpected. It is this that grants his works an overwhelming feeling of wisdom, and this volume is no exception.
The entire opening poem, "Honey and Salt", is fantastic. I love in particular the following two verses from it, however. First, "Is there any way of measuring love? / Yes but not till long afterward / when the beat of your heart has gone / many miles, far into the big numbers." Second, "There are sanctuaries / holding honey and salt. / There are those who / spill and spend. / There are those who / search and save. / And love may be a quest / with silence and content. / Can you buy love?" Those two verses, talking about different qualities of love and asking the big questions, perfectly illustrate Sandburg's ability to generate wisdom from simple words.
Other poems illustrate Sandburg's fascination with Nature and the whimsy of life. My favorite among these is "If So Hap May Be" in which he writes:
"Be somber with those in smoke garments.
Laugh with those eating bitter weeds.
Burn your love with bold flame blossoms,
if so hap may be.
Leave him with a soft snowfall memory,
if so hap may be.
..
Never came winter stars more clear
yet the stars lost themselves
midnight came snow-wrought snow-blown.
.."
Maybe the best poem of the volume is "Little Word, Little White Bird" in which he elicits the various forms of love. This is a great, slim, magic volume of poetry.
The entire opening poem, "Honey and Salt", is fantastic. I love in particular the following two verses from it, however. First, "Is there any way of measuring love? / Yes but not till long afterward / when the beat of your heart has gone / many miles, far into the big numbers." Second, "There are sanctuaries / holding honey and salt. / There are those who / spill and spend. / There are those who / search and save. / And love may be a quest / with silence and content. / Can you buy love?" Those two verses, talking about different qualities of love and asking the big questions, perfectly illustrate Sandburg's ability to generate wisdom from simple words.
Other poems illustrate Sandburg's fascination with Nature and the whimsy of life. My favorite among these is "If So Hap May Be" in which he writes:
"Be somber with those in smoke garments.
Laugh with those eating bitter weeds.
Burn your love with bold flame blossoms,
if so hap may be.
Leave him with a soft snowfall memory,
if so hap may be.
..
Never came winter stars more clear
yet the stars lost themselves
midnight came snow-wrought snow-blown.
.."
Maybe the best poem of the volume is "Little Word, Little White Bird" in which he elicits the various forms of love. This is a great, slim, magic volume of poetry.
July 10, 2015
This is my favorite of every Carl Sandburg book I've read. Each poem in it is as perfect as writing can ever be.
My favorites in the book are the ones about love, since most love poetry is either fairly dire or only sentimental to the one it was written for. The title poem is a wonderful glance at all the beauty, vulnerability and horror of love, dealing with questions "Can you buy love, Can you sell love, How long does love last, etc..."
His treatise on comparisons of physical objects and animals to love on page 59, "Little Word, Little White Bird," is equally beautiful and immensely true. The intro to it (minus the last line) goes:
"Love, is it a cat with claws and wild mate screams
in the black night?
Love, is it a bird--a goldfinch with a burnish
on its wingtips or a little gray sparrow
picking crumbs, hunting crumbs?
Love, is it a tug at the heart that comes high and
costs, always costs, as long as you have it?
Love, is it a free glad spender, ready to spend to
the limit, and then go head over heels in debt?
Love, can it hit one without hitting two and leave
the one lost and groping?"
The book is worth buying or borrowing solely on the merits of that poem.
My favorites in the book are the ones about love, since most love poetry is either fairly dire or only sentimental to the one it was written for. The title poem is a wonderful glance at all the beauty, vulnerability and horror of love, dealing with questions "Can you buy love, Can you sell love, How long does love last, etc..."
His treatise on comparisons of physical objects and animals to love on page 59, "Little Word, Little White Bird," is equally beautiful and immensely true. The intro to it (minus the last line) goes:
"Love, is it a cat with claws and wild mate screams
in the black night?
Love, is it a bird--a goldfinch with a burnish
on its wingtips or a little gray sparrow
picking crumbs, hunting crumbs?
Love, is it a tug at the heart that comes high and
costs, always costs, as long as you have it?
Love, is it a free glad spender, ready to spend to
the limit, and then go head over heels in debt?
Love, can it hit one without hitting two and leave
the one lost and groping?"
The book is worth buying or borrowing solely on the merits of that poem.
October 2, 2008
Carl Sandburg had a most interesting way of looking at things, then analyzing what he saw and felt. This is my favorite Sandburg book. I've bought about a dozen copies for friends, I've read and re-read the poems that spoke most to me.
Who else could say, "God gets up in the morning and says, 'Another day?' God is no gentleman because he gets up in the morning and puts on overalls and gets dirty running the universe - and several other universes nobody knows about but him."
And "How can we be pals when you speak English and I speak English and I don't understand you and you don't understand me?"
A great little book of poems.
Who else could say, "God gets up in the morning and says, 'Another day?' God is no gentleman because he gets up in the morning and puts on overalls and gets dirty running the universe - and several other universes nobody knows about but him."
And "How can we be pals when you speak English and I speak English and I don't understand you and you don't understand me?"
A great little book of poems.
Read
January 1, 2017I believe this is the first Sandburg that I've read that's meant for adults, though I have enjoyed much of his work for children. I think I need to read his earlier works and then reread this. I admit, I was pretty clueless for most of the poems.
I did love four: the title poem, Moon Rondeau, High Moments, and Personalia. Unfortunately they need to be read as gestalt, and there are no lines or short bits that I can effectively quote here. Maybe they're online somewhere.
I did love four: the title poem, Moon Rondeau, High Moments, and Personalia. Unfortunately they need to be read as gestalt, and there are no lines or short bits that I can effectively quote here. Maybe they're online somewhere.
July 21, 2009
Some of these are not so good. Portions of others are.
"Come clean with a child heart.
Laugh as peaches in the summer wind.
Let rain on a house roof be a song.
Let the writing on your face
be a smell of apple orchards in late June."
from "Lesson"
"Come clean with a child heart.
Laugh as peaches in the summer wind.
Let rain on a house roof be a song.
Let the writing on your face
be a smell of apple orchards in late June."
from "Lesson"
July 31, 2015
You know what the sign of a great poetry collection is? You'll read a poem -- like "Atlas, How Have You Been?" -- aloud and your listening friend will get excited about poetry again while you'll love the poem even more out loud then you did before from just reading it to yourself and then your friend will take the book from you and read a poem -- like "Shadows Fall Blue on the Mountains" -- and it will be like you never heard that one before, like you never even read it, and you'll laugh and sigh and rejoice, and you'll both want to read more and more out loud. And you will. That's this book.
December 9, 2008
Loved this one. I always enjoy reading poetry, but sometimes I find big compilation books of poems daunting and they sit on my shelf. This book was just the right size for me to completely digest; and all the poems were lovely. "Almanac" was my favorite.
May 13, 2012
Have loved this book for over 20 years. The imagery is compelling to me.
October 14, 2024
"Passion may be a wild grass/where a great wind came and went./The evening sunsets witness and pass on."
May 21, 2025
Where were you Carl?
So so good.
So so good.
June 16, 2020
I bought this book of poetry several months ago at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Sandburg's poems felt very connected with nature and with the everyday. In reading them, I felt myself drifting over landscapes and lives. A beautiful collection.
⭐⭐⭐⭐- Really Liked It
⭐⭐⭐⭐- Really Liked It
December 5, 2008
Fuck man.
April 1, 2010
I always enjoyed Sandburg's poetry.
January 21, 2013
I love Sandburg. (: My favorite poem was "Offering and Rebuff"
July 29, 2017
Although, Carl Sandburg has left this earth fifty years ago. His poems remain timely and relevant to modern ears.
July 9, 2008
A favorite. (This is a book of poetry, by the way.)
May 1, 2012
This was one of my favorite poetry books when I was in high school!
February 2, 2025
4/5
The exceptional poems far outweigh the many poor pieces. Carl Sandburg is a genius. He has been doing--and at 85 when he wrote this--what I've been training to do. I've mentioned this in an earlier Miffy review, but Sandburg knows to the core how to pick fragments of dialogue, fragments of moments, and turn them into the most profound, introspective, heavy stories. And with such few lines. In such few words. Some specific poems from this collection that fall in this category:
"Bird Footprint," "Harvest," "Love Beyond Keeping," "Moon Rondeau" (which might be my favorite from the collection), and "High Moments."
I still feel tired all the time. I'm waking up at 11am every day. I'm not talking much. To friends, to family. Just, staying. And this suspension ... I don't know how long it'll last. Meeting with my therapist tomorrow. Hopeful I can get a few things from her. But last night was nice. Me, my roommate and his girlfriend and another roommate watched Phantom Thread in the living room. A good movie. And we talked a ton. Swapped stories of working in the South, working in warehouse jobs. Asked hypothetical questions. Like: "You're marrying the person of your dreams; would you rather they understood you but couldn't speak English, or couldn't understand you but spoke English?" Things like that. I was proud of the question. Came up with it myself. And we talked. I'd have to choose the first. If I felt like--even knew--that my partner couldn't understand me, I would go crazy. I'd go on long walks and seclude into myself. I'd use my headphones more in public. I'd isolate to just me and them, and I'd bend at their wishes. Because I'd think that they were dependent on me to navigate life, but really, it'd be the other way around. And I guess that's how I felt in my last relationship. So now I'm learning to find myself again.
The exceptional poems far outweigh the many poor pieces. Carl Sandburg is a genius. He has been doing--and at 85 when he wrote this--what I've been training to do. I've mentioned this in an earlier Miffy review, but Sandburg knows to the core how to pick fragments of dialogue, fragments of moments, and turn them into the most profound, introspective, heavy stories. And with such few lines. In such few words. Some specific poems from this collection that fall in this category:
"Bird Footprint," "Harvest," "Love Beyond Keeping," "Moon Rondeau" (which might be my favorite from the collection), and "High Moments."
I still feel tired all the time. I'm waking up at 11am every day. I'm not talking much. To friends, to family. Just, staying. And this suspension ... I don't know how long it'll last. Meeting with my therapist tomorrow. Hopeful I can get a few things from her. But last night was nice. Me, my roommate and his girlfriend and another roommate watched Phantom Thread in the living room. A good movie. And we talked a ton. Swapped stories of working in the South, working in warehouse jobs. Asked hypothetical questions. Like: "You're marrying the person of your dreams; would you rather they understood you but couldn't speak English, or couldn't understand you but spoke English?" Things like that. I was proud of the question. Came up with it myself. And we talked. I'd have to choose the first. If I felt like--even knew--that my partner couldn't understand me, I would go crazy. I'd go on long walks and seclude into myself. I'd use my headphones more in public. I'd isolate to just me and them, and I'd bend at their wishes. Because I'd think that they were dependent on me to navigate life, but really, it'd be the other way around. And I guess that's how I felt in my last relationship. So now I'm learning to find myself again.
December 31, 2019
"I was the first of the fools
(So I dreamed)
And all the fools of the world
were put into me and I was
the biggest fool of all"
Nope, I'm still not a poetry person.
This is the first book of poetry I've ever entered in any reading list that I've ever kept. I love lyrics and I adore storytelling prose that reads like poetry... but, actual poems just never grab me. I forget them as soon as I turn the page, no matter how talented the poet may be. However, what did grab me was Carl and Lilian's wonderful, inspiring home in the Village of Flat Rock, Georgia. We visited earlier this year and it was wonderful. I didn't know anything about either one of them before, but in touring the house and the grounds and hearing quotes from his writing and anecdotes about their lives, well, reader, I fell in love with them both. Their spirits are still so strongly present in every aspect of their unique home and goat farm and they reminded me a great deal of my own beloved and sorely missed grandparents.
Whenever I visit the home of a writer, I have to purchase a book from the bookstore to add to my own library. It only seems right and I get a kick out of the official seal that is often stamped into the pages. This is my newest edition and of course I read it and I liked it well enough while reading it, but poems just tend to be too... something for me. I did enjoy all the excerpts and quotes the tour guide read to us from his writing while we were at his house, so maybe I just need to hear poetry read out loud to really appreciate it?
(So I dreamed)
And all the fools of the world
were put into me and I was
the biggest fool of all"
Nope, I'm still not a poetry person.
This is the first book of poetry I've ever entered in any reading list that I've ever kept. I love lyrics and I adore storytelling prose that reads like poetry... but, actual poems just never grab me. I forget them as soon as I turn the page, no matter how talented the poet may be. However, what did grab me was Carl and Lilian's wonderful, inspiring home in the Village of Flat Rock, Georgia. We visited earlier this year and it was wonderful. I didn't know anything about either one of them before, but in touring the house and the grounds and hearing quotes from his writing and anecdotes about their lives, well, reader, I fell in love with them both. Their spirits are still so strongly present in every aspect of their unique home and goat farm and they reminded me a great deal of my own beloved and sorely missed grandparents.
Whenever I visit the home of a writer, I have to purchase a book from the bookstore to add to my own library. It only seems right and I get a kick out of the official seal that is often stamped into the pages. This is my newest edition and of course I read it and I liked it well enough while reading it, but poems just tend to be too... something for me. I did enjoy all the excerpts and quotes the tour guide read to us from his writing while we were at his house, so maybe I just need to hear poetry read out loud to really appreciate it?
November 6, 2019
I wasn't overly impressed by this collection. It does seem that Sandburg is the monumental American poet whose writing is able to reach a wide audience. And I don't think its accessibility terribly diminishes the quality. But for me, it was only a poem here or there that moved me. There are some good ones in there like “Shadows Fall Blue on the Mountains” and "Little Word, Little White Bird." I really appreciate the extent to which Sandburg does not descend into pretentious, dithering ambiguity. But at the same time, I would also appreciate a certain pretension to refinement haha. Such is the burden of my own poetic taste!
I might revisit Sandburg another time. I find him fascinating as a figure of American history.
I might revisit Sandburg another time. I find him fascinating as a figure of American history.
May 4, 2025
April was poetry month, and I love poetry. I love treasured poets such as Sandburg - modern, yet timeless classics. But I didn't love this book and struggled to finish it.
His writings on love were my favorites: "Love is a Deep and a Dark and a Lonely" and certainly "Kisses, Can You Come Back Like Ghosts?" But the points of such poems as "Sun Dancer" eluded me.
I enjoyed "Timesweep" and thought it made a nice closing piece. As it turns out, I was reading this last poem on a Sunday, following not only regular worship but a full weekend of youth rally events. This poem spoke to me of recognizing and honoring God's creation(s) through time. It was a nice, lengthier-than-usual piece for meditation, and I was thankful for the quiet time in which to read it.
His writings on love were my favorites: "Love is a Deep and a Dark and a Lonely" and certainly "Kisses, Can You Come Back Like Ghosts?" But the points of such poems as "Sun Dancer" eluded me.
I enjoyed "Timesweep" and thought it made a nice closing piece. As it turns out, I was reading this last poem on a Sunday, following not only regular worship but a full weekend of youth rally events. This poem spoke to me of recognizing and honoring God's creation(s) through time. It was a nice, lengthier-than-usual piece for meditation, and I was thankful for the quiet time in which to read it.
December 27, 2022
Sandburg really bridges the gap between words and worlds here. Each poem, short or lengthy, resonates with storied elegance. Fanatical in the sense of how the subject of any given poem draws you in for you to then only see it get deconstructed and put back together again by this ferocious wordweaver. It’s like Sandburg is playing legos with words and even if you have to double (sometimes triple) take on what he’s saying…you still come out of it having witnessed a fine array of phantasmic imagery and exquisitely constructed wordage. Mr Sandburg was incredibly ahead of his time and Honey & Salt is a monolith to that!
August 8, 2020
Although I liked several of the poems in this book, they are beautifully written and nicely constructed, I can only give it four stars. To be honest, I think it’s my personal bias. These poems were originally published in the late 1950s and poetry has morphed since then. I prefer the newer
styles.
Of the ones I liked, my favorite is Love is a Deep and a Dark and a Lonely. If not the poem itself, the title.
I can see why Sandburg is the quintessential American poet. If you haven’t read him, I think you need to. Perhaps that is part of my bias, I came to him in my twilight years.
styles.
Of the ones I liked, my favorite is Love is a Deep and a Dark and a Lonely. If not the poem itself, the title.
I can see why Sandburg is the quintessential American poet. If you haven’t read him, I think you need to. Perhaps that is part of my bias, I came to him in my twilight years.
June 22, 2024
3.5 stars
Lovely book of poetry overall, but I have to agree with some of the other reviews: Some of these poems felt repetitive or were just...weird. The last poem "Timesweep" was not to my taste. Overall, I'm glad I read this book of poems. I assumed Carl Sandburg was a poet for children, but he certainly is not. His lyrical content is reminiscent of T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden, but less academic. It would be interesting to find out if these later poets were inspired by Sandburg at all. Take your time with this book of poetry even though it's short.
Lovely book of poetry overall, but I have to agree with some of the other reviews: Some of these poems felt repetitive or were just...weird. The last poem "Timesweep" was not to my taste. Overall, I'm glad I read this book of poems. I assumed Carl Sandburg was a poet for children, but he certainly is not. His lyrical content is reminiscent of T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden, but less academic. It would be interesting to find out if these later poets were inspired by Sandburg at all. Take your time with this book of poetry even though it's short.
November 28, 2023
Carl Sandburg's poems keep me intrigued by his use of language, and I was continually pondering and trying to answer the questions he posed in much of his writing. Many of these 77 poems highlight the wonders of nature. My favorite line is from the poem "New Weather". As a cold front passes through Florida, my shorts and T shirts have been replaced by a sweatshirt ad jeans. As the poet said, "New weather weaves new garments."
August 3, 2022
“can you begin to own / both yourself and your shadow?” from “shadows fall blue on the mountain.
i bought my copy of this collection at what used to be carl sandburg’s home in flat rock, nc. this was the perfect read sitting in the mountains and channeling my inner thoreau.
a few of my favorites: “high moments”, “lesson”, “lake michigan morning”, and “variations on a theme”.
i bought my copy of this collection at what used to be carl sandburg’s home in flat rock, nc. this was the perfect read sitting in the mountains and channeling my inner thoreau.
a few of my favorites: “high moments”, “lesson”, “lake michigan morning”, and “variations on a theme”.
January 7, 2023
I like Carl Sandburg's poetry since it deals with nature and life in the Midwest United States. I think this poetry collection gives a good sense of his writing. My favorite poem from the collection is "Lackawanna Twilight." Honestly I do not remember most of the poems though I did enjoy them while I was reading them.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews