Shirt
Shirt - form Summary
Refrain Asserts Composure
Sandburg's free-verse poem uses plain diction and a recurring refrain to stage a choice between theatrical display and quiet composure. The shirt becomes a simple symbol for public behavior: one can rip it off to make noise or keep it on to remain steady. The repeated line "I can keep my shirt on" acts as the poem's structural anchor, reinforcing restraint and the speaker's deliberate, unperformed self-possession.
Read Complete AnalysesMy shirt is a token and symbol, more than a cover for sun and rain, my shirt is a signal, and a teller of souls. I can take off my shirt and tear it, and so make a ripping razzly noise, and the people will say, "Look at him tear his shirt." I can keep my shirt on. I can stick around and sing like a little bird and look 'em all in the eye and never be fazed. I can keep my shirt on.
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