Bas-relief
Bas-relief - fact Summary
First Printed in Smoke and Steel
Published in Carl Sandburg's 1920 collection Smoke and Steel, "Bas-relief" presents a compact, ceremonial scene of five geese marching with pomp and solemnity. Sandburg frames ordinary birds as a dignified, almost monumental procession, emphasizing rhythm and repetition to make a small, vivid tableau. The poem's inclusion in Smoke and Steel links it to the collection's focus on stark, image-driven depictions of movement and public life.
Read Complete AnalysesFive geese deploy mysteriously. Onward proudly with flagstaffs, Hearses with silver bugles, Bushes of plum-blossoms dropping For ten mystic web-feet-- Each his own drum-major, Each charged with the honor Of the ancient goose nation, Each with a nose-length surpassing The nose-lengths of rival nations. Somberly, slowly, unimpeachably, Five geese deploy mysteriously.
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