Rusty Crimson
Rusty Crimson - fact Summary
Midwestern Landscape Influence
This short poem condenses a Midwestern prairie sunset into vivid, spare images: red dust, lavender, timberline, a grain elevator and moonlit stubble. Everyday rural elements are anthropomorphized—the sunset as a tired fieldworker—while a sudden religious image of the baby Jesus in an Illinois barn grounds the scene in local faith. The poem reflects Sandburg’s familiarity with and attention to American Midwest landscapes and working life.
Read Complete AnalysesTHE FIVE O'CLOCK prairie sunset is a strong man going to sleep after a long day in a cornfield. The red dust of a rusty crimson is fixed with two fingers of lavender. A hook of smoke, a woman's nose in charcoal and ... nothing. The timberline turns in a cover of purple. A grain elevator humps a shoulder. One steel star whisks out a pointed fire. Moonlight comes on the stubble. 'Jesus in an Illinois barn early this morning, the baby Jesus ... in flannels ...'
Chirstmas Day, 1917
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