Under

Under - context Summary

Published in 1916

Published in Carl Sandburg’s 1916 collection Chicago Poems, "Under" gives voice to an impersonal, subterranean force that undermines human institutions. The speaker identifies as an undertow, slow eater, and an older, indifferent law that corrodes pillars, fastenings, and pride. The poem frames social and physical structures as vulnerable to inevitable, patient decay that pays no heed to human judgments and promises future collapse.