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Harvest Poems 1910-1960
A representative selection of poems, culled from the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet’s published verse, plus thirteen poems appearing in book form for the first time. “[Sandburg’s poetry] is independent, honest, direct, lyric, and it endures, clamorous and muted, magical as life itself” (New York Times). Introduction by Mark Van Doren.
126 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
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About the author
Carl Sandburg
745 books335 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 42 reviews
September 19, 2017
Can four dollars buy you happiness?
Yes. Yes, it can.
Four dollars bought me this book, and this book brought me happiness. So, $4.00=Happiness.
And, in case you think I'm a cheap date, I've a list of references that will tell you otherwise.
But, I can't speak of dating another right now, for I only have eyes for Carl Sandburg (and as my husband will remind me later, when he kindly reads my review, "Ahem, and a husband.")
Yes! Yes, a husband, and of course a mad crush on Colin Firth (and all beforementioned literary loves), but right now I wish to speak of my newest man:
Carl Sandburg.
And, incidentally, this book.
This collection, Harvest Poems: 1910-1960, has pulled the best from all of Sandburg's prominent works (two of my favorites being Good Morning, America and Chicago Poems). And, it's an outstanding grouping of poems.
This is heart-stirring, bold, declarative writing. This isn't weepy verse, and it rarely rhymes.
This is poetry by a man who spray-painted I AM HERE all over the cornfields, buildings and train stations of North America.
This is poetry written by a man who knew he was fallible and knew he would die, but who chose not to live life in the shadows. He's the perpetual jack 'o lantern who smiles in the dark, grinning until the pumpkin rots.
The "Notes for a Preface" by Sandburg, at the beginning of this collection, is worth the price of the book alone, and I think all writers should read it.
And then you get 100 pages of the great, glorious gusto of the best of his poems. (and, in my case, all for four dollars).
Are you happy? It's the only
way to be, kid.
Yes, be happy, it's a good nice
way to be.
But not happy-happy, kid, don't
be too doubled-up doggone happy.
It's the doubled-up doggone happy-
happy people. . . bust hard. . . they
do bust hard. . . when they bust.
Be happy, kid, go to it, but not too
doggone happy.
--Snatch of Sliphorn Jazz
Yes. Yes, it can.
Four dollars bought me this book, and this book brought me happiness. So, $4.00=Happiness.
And, in case you think I'm a cheap date, I've a list of references that will tell you otherwise.
But, I can't speak of dating another right now, for I only have eyes for Carl Sandburg (and as my husband will remind me later, when he kindly reads my review, "Ahem, and a husband.")
Yes! Yes, a husband, and of course a mad crush on Colin Firth (and all beforementioned literary loves), but right now I wish to speak of my newest man:
Carl Sandburg.
And, incidentally, this book.
This collection, Harvest Poems: 1910-1960, has pulled the best from all of Sandburg's prominent works (two of my favorites being Good Morning, America and Chicago Poems). And, it's an outstanding grouping of poems.
This is heart-stirring, bold, declarative writing. This isn't weepy verse, and it rarely rhymes.
This is poetry by a man who spray-painted I AM HERE all over the cornfields, buildings and train stations of North America.
This is poetry written by a man who knew he was fallible and knew he would die, but who chose not to live life in the shadows. He's the perpetual jack 'o lantern who smiles in the dark, grinning until the pumpkin rots.
The "Notes for a Preface" by Sandburg, at the beginning of this collection, is worth the price of the book alone, and I think all writers should read it.
And then you get 100 pages of the great, glorious gusto of the best of his poems. (and, in my case, all for four dollars).
Are you happy? It's the only
way to be, kid.
Yes, be happy, it's a good nice
way to be.
But not happy-happy, kid, don't
be too doubled-up doggone happy.
It's the doubled-up doggone happy-
happy people. . . bust hard. . . they
do bust hard. . . when they bust.
Be happy, kid, go to it, but not too
doggone happy.
--Snatch of Sliphorn Jazz
May 27, 2015
With three Pulitzer prizes, two for poetry and one for a biography of Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sandburg is a pillar of American ingenuity. With this novella, or collection of some of his most popular poems, readers get a manageable helping of an intellectual powerhouse. Poems written with attention to structure pounded into twenty-first century college students pour from these pages like life lived to its complete and fullest degree. Sandburg’s poems describe places and people with sharp and discerning senses. His direct language and ability to recognize metaphysical problems with empirical substance and human behavior is unmatched. Reading Sandburg’s poems, a person experiences an easy to grasp story, but gets a massive dose of reflective literature, more is going on than just Sandburg’s solid and stand-alone description. His poems are lyrical in a way that is not sing song. They have sensible meter without seeming repetitive. Readers are led through cities, lives, events, silly allegories, and humorous anecdotes without regret or any sense of political correctness. There is nothing offensive about Sandburg’s poems, but they are not subtle and are brutally honest in a way that has been left behind by many contemporary writers in the twenty-first century.
An inexpensive and short novella of poetry, Harvest Poems is a perfect introduction to Sandburg, poetry, prose, and unrivaled literary skill worth being aware of, if not attempting to emulate in some way. Even recreational readers at high school level should find something of interest in these poems. While readers should have no problem around children with these works, they are written with adult rationality and may leave young children bewildered or bored. As for young literary prodigies, enjoy these works and the rest of us can catch up with you later.
An inexpensive and short novella of poetry, Harvest Poems is a perfect introduction to Sandburg, poetry, prose, and unrivaled literary skill worth being aware of, if not attempting to emulate in some way. Even recreational readers at high school level should find something of interest in these poems. While readers should have no problem around children with these works, they are written with adult rationality and may leave young children bewildered or bored. As for young literary prodigies, enjoy these works and the rest of us can catch up with you later.
February 24, 2017
I picked this small collection of Sandburg’s poetry up at one of my favorite thrift shops this fall. Spanning 40 years, Harvest Poems offers a great introduction to his prolific career. I related to many of the poems solely because of the wonderful depictions of the place I call home - the midwest. Sandburg describes so much movement, his words are like the wind…. constantly changing direction yet on a steady path. From man’s creation of skyscrapers being built up, and torn down, to the thinnest blade of prairie grass; reading these poems felt like a glimpse into a warmly lit house’s kitchen window on a cold, crisp night.
I particularly enjoyed Harvest Moon, Sea Wash, For You, From the Windy City, At the Gates of the Tombs, Phizzog, They Ask: Is God, Too, Lonely?, and Freedom is a Habit, There was a definite presence of togetherness in his poems, meaning in everything, that all are one in this constantly changing world… and I found something really striking about that idea. I’m terrible at articulating the certain kind of joy I get from poems like this, if you take anything away from my review let it be that I had a really nice feeling while reading this collection. I’m also in love with the fact that this edition fits in my winter coat’s pocket perfectly. 4/5 stars.
I particularly enjoyed Harvest Moon, Sea Wash, For You, From the Windy City, At the Gates of the Tombs, Phizzog, They Ask: Is God, Too, Lonely?, and Freedom is a Habit, There was a definite presence of togetherness in his poems, meaning in everything, that all are one in this constantly changing world… and I found something really striking about that idea. I’m terrible at articulating the certain kind of joy I get from poems like this, if you take anything away from my review let it be that I had a really nice feeling while reading this collection. I’m also in love with the fact that this edition fits in my winter coat’s pocket perfectly. 4/5 stars.
September 15, 2016
I wanted to like this, being from the Midwest myself, and considering how much I love his poem, "Fog." But I am emphatically not a fan. Sandburg repeats words constantly, and not in a meaningful way. I think some of his poems are supposed to be funny, but they don't come off that way (which could just be changing times, but still ... I'm reading it in 2016, and that can't be helped). My biggest problem was that the words were simply not poetic. They were blunt, hard-sounding words, often in just chopped up sentences with words repeating and repeating words and then something basic, followed by a repeating word. My second big beef is that the endings just fell flat; half the time it felt like they weren't even connected to the same thought or same poem. He does not know how to end a poem poetically. I don't know why Sandburg was so popular. This book gives me no clues.
There were a couple standout poems: "Fog," "Personality," "At the Gates of Tombs," and "Improved Farm Land," and a couple snippets of longer poems that were not terrible, namely some sections of "Prairie," "Smoke and Steel," and "The People, Yes." For 125 pages of poems, that's not very many.
There were a couple standout poems: "Fog," "Personality," "At the Gates of Tombs," and "Improved Farm Land," and a couple snippets of longer poems that were not terrible, namely some sections of "Prairie," "Smoke and Steel," and "The People, Yes." For 125 pages of poems, that's not very many.
May 16, 2013
A poet of his time, Sandburg has an outmoded feel, though there are clearly some wonderful sparks in works such as "The People, Yes," "At the Gates of Tombs," "Sayings of Henry Stevens," "A Couple," and others. Check this out:
GRASS
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all.
And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?
I am the grass.
Let me work.
Or as Basho had it:
Summer grass:
Of stalwart warriors' dreams,
The aftermath.
GRASS
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all.
And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?
I am the grass.
Let me work.
Or as Basho had it:
Summer grass:
Of stalwart warriors' dreams,
The aftermath.
March 3, 2024
"The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on."
Sandburg's verse is built solidly and beautifully, like a big old brick house. Every poem is substantial, every word weighty. Profound and declarative and so obvious it loops back around to being subtle again. I discovered while reading this collection, though, that I am a much bigger fan of his early work — "Isle of Patmos", "Cool Tombs", "A.E.F.", and the definitions of poetry, for some — than I am of anything from after the '20s. The longer-form pieces in particular failed to capture my interest. Still, largely a joy to read, and practically required if you've ever called Chicago home.
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on."
Sandburg's verse is built solidly and beautifully, like a big old brick house. Every poem is substantial, every word weighty. Profound and declarative and so obvious it loops back around to being subtle again. I discovered while reading this collection, though, that I am a much bigger fan of his early work — "Isle of Patmos", "Cool Tombs", "A.E.F.", and the definitions of poetry, for some — than I am of anything from after the '20s. The longer-form pieces in particular failed to capture my interest. Still, largely a joy to read, and practically required if you've ever called Chicago home.
May 24, 2019
Extremely dated and very much a product of its time. Reading this book was like taking a trip back in time and not in a good way.
I admit it, I got this book because I read his poem "Fog" in school, loved it, and was hoping for more of the same. Unfortunately, while "Fog" is here, no other poem in this book is anywhere near as memorable. I just finished reading this and am struggling to remember any of it. I seem to dimly remember that I liked another poem or two, and a handful of lines, but what they were I couldn't tell you now.
There isn't really anything here that hasn't been better said by others before or since. So unless you really love poems about skyscrapers, death, turning prairies into farm fields, Lincoln, Illinois, "Progress", or machinery, look absolutely anywhere else. Maybe this collection could be worth it to someone as a time machine, a way to see through the eyes of a particular person at a certain time and place, but be warned: you will only see through Sandburg's eyes, he has blinders on, and the view isn't pretty.
I admit it, I got this book because I read his poem "Fog" in school, loved it, and was hoping for more of the same. Unfortunately, while "Fog" is here, no other poem in this book is anywhere near as memorable. I just finished reading this and am struggling to remember any of it. I seem to dimly remember that I liked another poem or two, and a handful of lines, but what they were I couldn't tell you now.
There isn't really anything here that hasn't been better said by others before or since. So unless you really love poems about skyscrapers, death, turning prairies into farm fields, Lincoln, Illinois, "Progress", or machinery, look absolutely anywhere else. Maybe this collection could be worth it to someone as a time machine, a way to see through the eyes of a particular person at a certain time and place, but be warned: you will only see through Sandburg's eyes, he has blinders on, and the view isn't pretty.
October 19, 2009
"Can bare fact make the cloth of a shining poem?"
Yup.
Yup.
January 19, 2024
I don't like meatheads shootin' off their mouths always wrasslin' 'n wranglin'.
July 13, 2018
Like most people, I think I first experienced Carl Sandburg in poetry readers / academic compilations, and really only read the poem "Fog." It was only years later I would read this compilation of his work, and I loved it. Sandburg's poetry is not exclusively about the lives of the working class, but it does involve that subject matter, which I'm thankful for. What Sandburg's poetry does *not* involve is intensely confessional material that is only about his life, it is poetry about a man observing life, the world, and the history of the world. Reading this work made me realize that most poetry I read feels genderless to me, while Sandburg's work feels strongly masculine without ever becoming toxic (Bukowski) or so insecure that it becomes at time ridiculous (Hemingway). If you know anyone that simply can't get over their fixation with Bukowski, put this in their hands.
"The old anvil laughs at many broken hammers."
"The old anvil laughs at many broken hammers."
November 23, 2018
On New Year’s Day 2018, I resolved to keep a book of poetry going in addition to whatever else I might be reading, and this is my most recent one. Sandburg now joins Ashbury and Santayana as my current favorites. The diversity of subjects in this collection is stunning—from how a post-nuclear-war world would function (“Men of Science Say Their Say”) to a pro-union manifesto (“Sayings of Henry Stephens”) to reflections on consumerism (“Name Us a King”). These poems have made me laugh (at the word problems in “Arithmetic”) and cry (over the loss of FDR in “When Death Came April Twelve 1945”). To be sure, it includes “Chicago” and “Fog” from my high school introduction to his work; however, it has much more depth and breadth. Now I not only respect his work, I love, love, love it.
October 17, 2020
This book is sheer poetry, literally and figuratively. The phrasing is beautiful and the topics are as timely today as they were at the time they were written. It made me think and I would read a few and take time to digest those poems before reading a few more.
December 31, 2023
My cat came in on little fog feet and sat on my chest as I was reading this. I've read a handful of Sandburg poems before, I don't know why it took me this long to read a full collection. As always, my thoughts turn to, "How can I share this with my students?"
July 2, 2024
There were 1-2 poems in this collection I enjoyed and 1-2 that were interesting and made me think. But overall they were just okay. I can't say I would pick up more of his poetry to read just for fun.
November 14, 2020
I was aware of Sandburg in American poetry but had never given him much thought before. I found this collection at the thrift store for a dollar and dove in. I like his style and his voice a lot.
July 6, 2021
I very much appreciated Sandburg's discerning and celebratory imagery of people and place, but can border on tedious for me at times.
March 10, 2023
Old School
. I love poetry from the past. I always find it fascinating what poets were thinking about and writing about back in the day.
. I love poetry from the past. I always find it fascinating what poets were thinking about and writing about back in the day.
November 21, 2024
This is a slice of history written by someone who probably was very progressive for his time but feels quite dated now.
March 28, 2025
some real gems!
Read
October 15, 2025land and nature-grounded poems about industry and the plight of the working class that reminded me a lot of steinbeck, which is the way to my heart anyway
February 23, 2017
Granted, some of the poems sound like drunken ramblings, but consider this excerpt from "The People, Yes:"
They have yarns/Of a skyscraper so tall they had to put hinges/On the two top stories so to let the moon go by...
Sparks the imagination, no?
They have yarns/Of a skyscraper so tall they had to put hinges/On the two top stories so to let the moon go by...
Sparks the imagination, no?
July 11, 2012
Poetry. A selection of Carl Sandburg's work taken from eight volumes, along with thirteen poems new to this collection, an introduction by Mark Van Doren, and a preface from Sandburg himself.
About ten years ago, I got about thirty pages into this and couldn't get any further. It's just not my kind of poetry. It's basically a WPA mural. Like carrying an enormous hammer through a field of wheat while listening to jazz and working in factory. You can practically taste the locomotives. And the overalls.
So, ten years pass, during which this book sits like a bug-eyed troll on my bookshelf, unfinished, shelved somewhere near William Carlos Williams and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I mean that's just how ill-suited it is to my collection. But I had to finish it. Because no way I'm gonna let Carl Sandburg beat me.
It was just as I remembered. Very focused on industry, skyscrapers, agriculture, and despite what Van Doren says about Sandburg being part of a movement that reintroduced humor into poetry, it's kind of dry, a little dense. There is humor, especially in "Name Us a King" which is my favorite poem in this book, but it's quiet, and it doesn't get around much. Mostly Sandburg deals with contrast and repetition to make a point.
Other favorites: Men of Science Say Their Say, Southern Pacific, Death Snips Proud Men, A.E.F., Nine Tentative (First Model) Definitions of Poetry, A Couple.
Sandburg's poetry evokes a strong sense of time and place (and giant hammers). I found several poems to love, and many phrases to underline, but the themes he deals with are not really ones that I find satisfying, or at least not on the scale he was writing them. He does big picture; I like smaller, more personal poems.
Three stars. Has a table of contents, but no index, and the poems don't get their own pages; they're all crammed together with little white space between them.
About ten years ago, I got about thirty pages into this and couldn't get any further. It's just not my kind of poetry. It's basically a WPA mural. Like carrying an enormous hammer through a field of wheat while listening to jazz and working in factory. You can practically taste the locomotives. And the overalls.
So, ten years pass, during which this book sits like a bug-eyed troll on my bookshelf, unfinished, shelved somewhere near William Carlos Williams and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I mean that's just how ill-suited it is to my collection. But I had to finish it. Because no way I'm gonna let Carl Sandburg beat me.
It was just as I remembered. Very focused on industry, skyscrapers, agriculture, and despite what Van Doren says about Sandburg being part of a movement that reintroduced humor into poetry, it's kind of dry, a little dense. There is humor, especially in "Name Us a King" which is my favorite poem in this book, but it's quiet, and it doesn't get around much. Mostly Sandburg deals with contrast and repetition to make a point.
Other favorites: Men of Science Say Their Say, Southern Pacific, Death Snips Proud Men, A.E.F., Nine Tentative (First Model) Definitions of Poetry, A Couple.
Sandburg's poetry evokes a strong sense of time and place (and giant hammers). I found several poems to love, and many phrases to underline, but the themes he deals with are not really ones that I find satisfying, or at least not on the scale he was writing them. He does big picture; I like smaller, more personal poems.
Three stars. Has a table of contents, but no index, and the poems don't get their own pages; they're all crammed together with little white space between them.
July 3, 2008
Mrs. Gray, my fifth grade teacher had a one-sided love affair with Carl. She made each student memorize a Sandburg poem and recite it infront of the class. I memorized "Under a Harvest Moon" because it was not too long or short and pictured
"Love, with little hands,
comes and touches you
with a thousand memories
and asks you
beautiful unanswerable questions".
That was more metaphor than my ten year old mind had ever grappled with before. I was enchanted with the poet of the prarie from that point on.
"Love, with little hands,
comes and touches you
with a thousand memories
and asks you
beautiful unanswerable questions".
That was more metaphor than my ten year old mind had ever grappled with before. I was enchanted with the poet of the prarie from that point on.
January 24, 2016
A gift from a loved one for my October birthday, I immediately flipped to my long-time favorite, "Theme in yellow." Then I read it through from beginning to end, rediscovering old treasures and finding new favorites, especially "improved farm land," "nine tentative (first model) definitions of poetry," "phizzog," and "number man." Sandburg marvels at the endurance and ingenuity of Man, ponders poetry, glories in nature, glorifies God, weeps over war, and carries everything along in the musical, sometimes rhapsodic, sometimes wise-cracking, voice so beloved in his Rootabaga Stories.
September 22, 2007
This slim collection of Sandburg's poetry left me hungry for more. Sandburg's style initially feels lackluster then, upon rereading, the brilliant images jump out at you like a bullfrog shot from a cannon. At times, perhaps, a little too colloquial, over-emphasizing "common wisdom" to a fault. Still, Sandburg was a true American bard in the tradition of Walt Whitman.
May 22, 2008
My Grandmother gave me this book as a gift at age 10. He has been the reason I write poetry now. His verse uses everyday language to point at topics of War, and Unions and problems of everyday people.
One of my fovorite books of all time
One of my fovorite books of all time
September 23, 2011
No wonder I feel in love with this poet when I was a teenager !
I was afraid to go back and revisit--afraid that it would not be the same. Well, 45 years later I have a rekindled love and now I understand him better.
I was afraid to go back and revisit--afraid that it would not be the same. Well, 45 years later I have a rekindled love and now I understand him better.
June 23, 2014
Sandburg's romantic grit is unmistakeable -- factories making rivets and men unloading wheat -- his poems are muggy with sweat. I just wish they offered more than nostalgia.
("Chicago" & "Grass" are 5-star poems, btw. Read those.)
("Chicago" & "Grass" are 5-star poems, btw. Read those.)
March 20, 2015
holy damn. the best American poet I've had the sincere pleasure of reading? quite possibly. he sure knows how to make a guy feel insignificant in the sweeping cycle of everlasting time. what have you done to my feelings, mr Sandburg? you can't take back what you've done.
January 23, 2008
Sandburg is another Poetry-God and perhaps my favorite American poet. Woo Hoo!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews