Two Neighbors
Two Neighbors - meaning Summary
Two Lasting Life Philosophies
The poem presents two contrasting life philosophies: one of immediate pleasure and engagement with the present, associated with Omar Khayyam, and one of measured abstinence and slow longevity, associated with Louis Cornaro. Sandburg observes neighbors who embody each approach, notes that both are content, and accepts the coexistence of divergent ways of living. The closing line affirms the speaker’s quiet tolerance for both paths.
Read Complete AnalysesFaces of two eternities keep looking at me. One is Omar Khayam and the red stuff wherein men forget yesterday and to-morrow and remember only the voices and songs, the stories, newspapers and fights of today. One is Louis Cornaro and a slim trick of slow, short meals across slow, short years, letting Death open the door only in slow, short inches. I have a neighbor who swears by Omar. I have a neighbor who swears by Cornaro. Both are happy. Faces of two eternities keep looking at me. Let them look.
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