Sheep
Sheep - form Summary
Free-verse Processional Rhythm
Sandburg’s free-verse lines unfold as a steady, processional march. Repetitive phrasing and long, flowing sentences mimic the visual and aural movement of countless sheep moving over a hill, then broaden into a global, lullaby-like address. The loose, unmetered form lets image and rhythm carry the reader from observation to identification—the speaker as the Sleepyman—so the poem feels both simple and expansive without formal constraint.
Read Complete AnalysesThousands of sheep, soft-footed, black-nosed sheep-- one by one going up the hill and over the fence--one by one four-footed pattering up and over--one by one wiggling their stub tails as they take the short jump and go over--one by one silently unless for the multitudinous drumming of their hoofs as they move on and go over-- thousands and thousands of them in the grey haze of evening just after sundown--one by one slanting in a long line to pass over the hill-- I am the slow, long-legged Sleepyman and I love you sheep in Persia, California, Argentine, Australia, or Spain--you are the thoughts that help me when I, the Sleepyman, lay my hands on the eyelids of the children of the world at eight o'clock every night--you thousands and thousands of sheep in a procession of dusk making an endless multitudinous drumming on the hills with your hoofs.
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