Carl Sandburg

Good Night

Good Night - meaning Summary

Many Ways to Say

Sandburg’s poem lists everyday spectacles—fireworks, trains, steamboats—as different, gentle ways the world signals nightfall. Vivid but simple images link human-made and natural sounds and sights, suggesting a communal, almost musical farewell to the day. The recurring line stresses variety and ease in saying "good night," turning ordinary motion and noise into a universal, quiet benediction.

Read Complete Analyses

Many ways to say good night. Fireworks at a pier on the Fourth of July spell it with red wheels and yellow spokes. They fizz in the air, touch the water and quit. Rockets make a trajectory of gold-and-blue and then go out. Railroad trains at night spell with a smokestack mushrooming a white pillar. Steamboats turn a curve in the Mississippi crying a baritone that crosses lowland cotton fields to razorback hill. It is easy to spell good night. Many ways to spell good night.

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