Masses
Masses - meaning Summary
Solidarity with the Poor
The poem moves from grand natural and human spectacles to a sudden, wrenching recognition of the millions of poor. Sandburg contrasts awe at mountains, seas and public life with a more painful, intimate awareness of patient, broken people. The final lines frame the poor as enduring, innumerable forces—humble ruins that underlie nations—calling attention to social inequality and the poet’s moral obligation to witness their condition.
Read Complete AnalysesAmong the mountains I wandered and saw blue haze and red crag and was amazed; On the beach where the long push under the endless tide maneuvers, I stood silent; Under the stars on the prairie watching the Dipper slant over the horizon's grass, I was full of thoughts. Great men, pageants of war and labor, soldiers and workers, mothers lifting their children--these all I touched, and felt the solemn thrill of them. And then one day I got a true look at the Poor, millions of the Poor, patient and toiling; more patient than crags, tides, and stars; innumerable, patient as the darkness of night--and all broken, humble ruins of nations.
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