Carl Sandburg

Nocturne in a Deserted Brickyard

Nocturne in a Deserted Brickyard - context Summary

Published in 1916

From Sandburg’s first major collection, this short nocturne captures a moonlit scene where light and shadow transform water and sand into a dreamlike image. The poem compresses a quiet moment—willows, waves, and shifting yellow dusk—into a single evocative impression. It reads as a brief transfiguration of an ordinary place, emphasizing ephemeral motion and silent beauty rather than narrative or explanation.

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Stuff of the moon Runs on the lapping sand Out to the longest shadows. Under the curving willows, And round the creep of the wave line, Fluxions of yellow and dusk on the waters Make a wide dreaming pansy of an old pond in the night.

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