Happiness
Happiness - context Summary
Chicago Poems, 1916
Published in 1916 in Chicago Poems, Sandburg’s "Happiness" locates the source of joy in a working-class, immigrant gathering rather than among academics or business leaders. The free-verse poem reflects Sandburg’s interest in Chicago life and the Des Plaines River setting, contrasting theoretical answers with an embodied, communal scene of music, family and beer. It signals his democratic sympathy for ordinary people and public urban experience.
Read Complete AnalysesI asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness. And I went to famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men. They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was trying to fool with them. And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along the Desplaines River and I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with their women and children and a keg of beer and an accordion.
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