Noon Hour
Noon Hour - context Summary
Published in 1916
Published in 1916 in Chicago Poems, "Noon Hour" places a working-class cigar maker in an industrial setting and records a brief, dignified moment of rest. Sandburg frames the noon break as quietly restorative: the woman leans at a window and experiences the cool air as liberation from the factory's dust and sweat. The poem reflects Sandburg’s social sympathy and his interest in everyday scenes of labor in urban America.
Read Complete AnalysesShe sits in the dust at the walls And makes cigars, Bending at the bench With fingers wage-anxious, Changing her sweat for the day's pay. Now the noon hour has come, And she leans with her bare arms On the window-sill over the river, Leans and feels at her throat Cool-moving things out of the free open ways: At her throat and eyes and nostrils The touch and the blowing cool Of great free ways beyond the walls.
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