Carl Sandburg

The Year

The Year - meaning Summary

Seasons as Life Stages

The poem sketches a year as four brief seasonal tableaux that together suggest the arc of life. Spring’s white petals and bursting buds imply birth and emergence. Summer’s red roses evoke vigorous growth and striving. Autumn’s tattered leaves express decline and loss. Winter’s hoarfrost and silence convey dormancy or death. Each section uses vivid, compact images to move the reader through renewal, maturity, decay, and rest.

Read Complete Analyses

I A storm of white petals, Buds throwing open baby fists Into hands of broad flowers. II Red roses running upward, Clambering to the clutches of life Soaked in crimson. III Rabbles of tattered leaves Holding golden flimsy hopes Against the tramplings Into the pits and gullies. IV Hoarfrost and silence: Only the muffling Of winds dark and lonesome-- Great lullabies to the long sleepers.

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