The subject of this term paper will be the poem "Mamie" by Carl Sandburg. He can be regarded as one of the well-known poets of 20th century American literature. Unfortunately, many people only read his famous poem "Chicago" in which the young Sandburg tells us about the Illinois Capital to show different aspects of the industrial revolution and human labour.
When I opened the great book Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg, I found "Mamie"1 and was immediately struck by its energy and sadness. I decided to take a closer look at it and interpret the poem in this term-paper. In the first part I will give some general information about this poem and make a short summary. While analyzing the outer and inner structure of the poem I want to show similarities between its contents and Sandburgs own life. After examining the language I will show that Mamie is a typical American poem and that it contains socialist ideas.
Outline:
I. Introduction
II. Main Part:
1. General backround information and summary
2. Analysis of the outer structure of the poem:
- Number and format of the paragraphs, sentences
- Lack of rhyme
- Rhythm
- Can this kind of literature be called poetry ?
3. Analysis of the inner structure of the poem
- Title
- Distinction of two different time-phases
- Close examination of the two phases and the images with biographical information about Sandburg, motifs
- what kind of language is used ?
- "Mamie" as a typical American poem/The American Dream
- Socialist elements
III. Conclusion
IV. Bibliography
I. Introduction
The subject of this term paper will be the poem "Mamie" by Carl Sandburg. He can be regarded as one of the well-known poets of 20th century American literature. Unfortunately, many people only read his famous poem "Chicago" in which the young Sandburg tells us about the Illinois Capital to show different aspects of the industrial revolution and human labour.
When I opened the great book Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg, I found "Mamie"1 and was immediately struck by its energy and sadness. I decided to take a closer look at it and interpret the poem in this term-paper. In the first part I will give some general information about this poem and make a short summary. While analyzing the outer and inner structure of the poem I want to show similarities between its contents and Sandburgs own life. After examining the language I will show that Mamie is a typical American poem and that it contains socialist ideas.
II. Main Part:
1. General backround information and summary
The poem "Mamie" was published in Carl Sandburg's first book of poetry "Chicago Poems" in 1916. At that time Sandburg was working for several Chicago newspapers.2
Mamie is a woman who lives in a "little Indiana town"3 (l.2), a small-town scenario around her that she is "tired of"(l.9). She dreams of escaping this environment. In a feeling of despair she decides to leave for Chicago where she manages to find work. Discovering that the city does not fulfill her expectations she wants to break out again to search for "real dreams that never go smash"(ll. 24-25).
2. Analysis of the outer structure of the poem:
The poem consists of the title and 24 lines of text. If one scans it roughly it can be stated that there are 7 paragraphs: the first and the second paragraph contain one sentence each. The next sentence starts with the beginning of the third and ends with the fifth paragraph. The last two paragraphs are one single sentence together.
The beginnings of the paragraphs are especially marked: each first word is printed farther on the left than the body of the text.
The last four lines are set even differently: they start in the center of the paragraph instead of on the left of the page. This indicates a special meaning in their content. "Mamie" is written in free verse, which means that it shows a complete lack of end rhymes. There are three internal rhymes: "the railroad trains (...) ran"(ll.3-4), "morning mail"(l. 7) and "Decoration Day"(l.11).
There is an absence of regular verse rhythm in this poem as in most of Sandburg's lyrical works. The rhythm could be defined as the one used in everyday, common English. Some critics say that Sandburg's literature cannot be called poetry because of the lack of many classical features of lyric4. The Dictionary of Literary Terms states that "poetry is a comprehensive term which can be taken to cover any kind of metrical composition"5. Sandburg quotes O.W. Holmes in the preface of Complete Poems with the statement: "When you write in prose you say what you mean. When you write in verse you say what you must."6. Sandburg defended his way of writing - with free verse - as the more natural and oldest way.7
3. Analysis of the inner structure of the poem
The title "Mamie"(l.1) does not indicate what the poem is about. When the reader finds out that Mamie is the name of a human, the 'ie'- ending suggests a little person, young in age or naive in thoughts.
There are two different time-phases in the poem indicated by different tenses: the first phase describes Mamie's life in Indiana, her despair and her plan to go to Chicago. It is written in past tense. In the second phase it is shown what Mamie does in Chicago, that she has not found happiness and that she still longs for something else. This phase is written in present tense and could be called the 'now'-phase.
The first, past-tense phase is the description of the following situation: Mamie is sitting at the window and contemplates the life that she leads. We learn that she lives in "a little Indiana town"(l.2) with "barber shop boys", "post office chatter"(l.9) and "church gossip"(l.10), expressions which signal typical scenes to be confronted with in a small-town anywhere. At this point one can draw the first parallel to Sandburg's life: He comes from a small Illinois town, Galesburg, where he worked as a barber-shop boy.8
Mamie wants to escape from this place. Her boredom and restlessness is shown by her beating "her head against the bars"(l.2) of her window. This action can nearly be regarded as masochistic which shows the intensity of her feelings - "bars"(l.2) can be seen as a metaphor for a social and emotional situation that she cannot flee from. In the first and second paragraph the images of the "railroad trains"(ll.3-4), "streaks of steel", "smoke" and "engines"(ll.5-6) are very vivid and of great importance: the trains are a method of transport and - at the same time - a path that stands for Mamie's mental connection to Chicago. She seems to be fascinated with modern industrial achievements. "Chicago far off"(l.7) is the dream - the industrial terms appear as a medium, as the means of achieving the goal Chicago. The city's name signifies her longing for "romance and big things off somewhere"(l.3). The point of time when Mamie finds out that Chicago is her destination is "when the newspapers came (come) in on the morning mail"(ll.6-7). The "newspapers" bring the idea "Chicago" to Mamie's mind because she knows that they are made there.
This is another autobiographical statement: Back in his hometown, Carl Sandburg worked as a delivery boy for Chicago newspapers. Each day he had to wait for the train to pick up his papers and take them on his route to readers.9 Later he became a journalist for different papers in the Illinois capital.
Many words have something very vague about them: the name of Mamie's home town is not mentioned. The reader finds expressions like "big things off somewhere"(l.3) or "the way all the trains ran"(ll.7-8). This vagueness implies that Mamie is not so certain about what she wants to do or where she wants to go. Another aspect is that the reader can fill these hollow expressions (or blank spaces) with his or her own meaning. Everybody dreams of something and with this technique every reader can identify with Mamie. "Romance" is another image that is not so clear. Does Mamie look for a lasting relationship? A happy family situation?10 The reader fills the word with what he or she feels romance is.
"She could see the smoke of the engines get lost"(l.5) is a typical Sandburg-type of expression: "Sandburg is as fascinated with smoke as he was with fog. Even as he is concerned with the hard work of men (...), he lifts his eyes upward and sees the smoke reaching the sky. It is a symbol of his hope for the uplifting of man."11 In this context, the smoke stands for the hope of escaping the small town scenario. The smoke gets "lost down where the streaks of steel flashed (flash) in the sun." (l.5-6) So the smoke, symbol of hope, spreads towards the place where Mamie's dreams lie.
In the fourth and fifth paragraph, the end of the past-tense phase, the reader learns that Mamie's feeling of despair is even intensified. Again, she beats "her head against the bars"(l.12) but now she also "sobbed (sobbs) at her fate" and is "going to kill herself" (l.12- 13) It is not only a self-torturing deed that she weights in her mind but she considers committing suicide.
And only at this point, which could be called the climax of the poem, Mamie really sees her possibility to get out. "The thought came to her "that if she was going to die (...)" (l.14) signals that there is no sense to go on living for her. Only in this feeling of complete hopelessness she is able to take a step in her mind. She thought that "if she was going to die she might as well die struggling for a clutch of romance among the streets of Chicago"(l.13- 15): It does not matter if Chicago will really prove to be what she wants it to be - in her situation it is still worth a try. She already seems to sense that it will not be easy for her in Chicago. "struggling for"(l.15) and "among the streets"(l.15) show that the protagonist is not completely naive: her struggle will have to be lead not in fancy hotels or in wealthy houses but among the streets - where people can be found that live on the edge of society. "Clutch of romance"(l.15) shows Mamie's determination to seek, to encounter romance.
The 6th paragraph is the beginning of the second , the present-tense phase of the poem. It can be seen as a short summary of the changes that happened in the protagonist's life since she came to Chicago: The word "job"(l.17) tells us that she has found a way to make a living but that it cannot be called work. It is not an occupation that she considers satisfying or a challenge. She only works in a store which does not appear as an improvement over her former employment - even worse, she has to work in the "basement"(l.17). The image "basement" stands for a dark and dirty place where you keep objects that customers do not need to see. The "Boston Store"(l.17) seems to be a big company or building. Boston is another city far away, signifying that there are other places to go where dreams can lead to.
The last paragraph gives the reader an insight into Mamie's feelings. Between the lines there seems to be written "Nothing has changed!". Line 19 refers back to Mamie's emotions described in the first and fourth paragraph indicated by "even now" and "same old way" (l.19): She keeps on being unsatisfied, keeps on beating her head against the bars. Still, there are bars on her window - she seems to be locked in again.
And again the image of "railroads"(l.20) appears: She is unhappy and "wonders if there is a bigger place"(l.20) somewhere else. She wonders if "maybe there is romance/ and big things/ and real dreams"(ll. 21-24). The reader knows that she has not found any of these things in Chicago. She is trapped in the very same situation as back in Indiana. Chicago has not offered alternatives or "real dreams"(l.24).
"Smash" in the last line marks a point of destruction. The word is a vivid onomatopoeia. The sound reflects the sense. The effect Sandburg wants to achieve is to show how thoroughly Mamie's dreams were shattered.
If the language of the poem is examined, many expressions of colloquial American English can be found: Sandburg uses "get lost"(l.5) while "disappear" would be a more advanced kind of English verb. "come in"(l.6) appears insted of "arrived". "got (instead of grew) tired"(l.9) and "smash"(l.25) are verbs of street-English. Not only verbs, but many other words leave no doubt in the reader's mind that this poem was written by an American: "big things"(l.3), "far off"(l.7), "might as well die"(l.14), "same old way"(l.19).
It is obvious in many ways that "Mamie" is a typical American poem: The plan to leave and search for new places to live or to seek happiness appears as a returning motive in NorthAmerican literature of the last two centuries.
Mamie does not only want to move geographically. She aims for "big things"(l.3) and "real dreams"(l.24). This is a poem about the American Dream, about the Pursuit of Happiness shown by the protagonist's will to change her life into something better. It is free to the reader's interpretation if Mamie wants to move up socially or financially. Many readers can identify with expressions as broad as "romance" and "real dreams". The vagueness of these frame-words make the poem even more appealing. This piece of literature can also be regarded from a quite different perspective: Mamie's dreams are not fulfilled. The explanation can be given by analyzing her social situation. In the third paragraph the reader gets the impression that Mamie does not have a high education or comes from a rich family. As an effect, she does not have the possibility to find a well-paid, satisfying work or meet wealthy people. The American dream does not come true for Mamie. Sandburg might have wanted to express his socialist ideas in this poem: The Pursuit of Happiness does not work for poor people. Mamie cannot succeed in this life if the system does not change.
Sandburg has been very active in politics, writing and working for the rights of the working class. After learning about work and the hard fate of many people when he travelled the country as a 19-year old hobo in 1897,12 he grew to be an activist for social reforms. As a member of the Socialist Party he supported a platform calling for an eight-hour day, unemployment insurance, a guaranteed minimum wage and the abolition of child labor.13 In 1908 he wrote a pamphlet where he stated: "I believe in obstacles, but I say that a system such as the capitalist system, putting such obstacles as starvation, underfeeding, overwork, bad housing and perpetual uncertainity of work in the lives of human beings, if is a pitiless, ignorant, blind, reckless mockery of a system."14 The statement that Sandburg wants to make with his poem "Mamie" is the same: The protagonist cannot fulfill her dreams because the system does not let her. She makes an effort but is doomed to fail.
III. Conclusion
We see that one can find many parallels between Mamie's and Carl Sandburg's life and a critical approach to social reality in Sandburg's poetry.
It would be interesting to examine R.W. Emerson's and Walt Whitman's influence on Sandburg. Furthermore one could examine how working-class people are characterized in Sandburg's works, but to develop these ideas would go beyond the scope of this paper. I would like to finish by quoting Hazel Durnell about what Carl Sandburg wanted to express with his poetry in general - as well as with this poem: "He wished for his people more beauty and more of the better things of life, more of the joy of living."15
IV. Bibliography
Primary Source:
Sandburg, Carl. "Mamie" in: Chicago Poems, in: The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg, rev. and expand. edition, New York: Harcourt 1976, page 17.
Secondary Sources:
Callahan, North. Carl Sandburg. His Life and Works, University Park/London: Pennsylvania State University Press 1987.
Durnell, Hazel. The America of Carl Sandburg, Washington D.C: University Press of Washington, 1965.
[...]
1 Carl Sandburg, "Mamie", in: The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg (Revised and Expanded Edition: New York, 1978), p. 17.
2 see North Callahan, Carl Sandburg. His Life and Works (University Park Pennsylvania, 1987), p.81.
3 When quoting words or passages out of the poem Mamie itself, I will abbreviate line/lines to l./ll.
4 see Callahan, p.100.
5 cf. J.A. Cuddon, "Poetry", in: Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (first edition 1977, 3rd edition: London 1992), p.726.
6 cf. Complete Poems, p.xxvii.
7 see Callahan, p.100.
8 see Callahan, pp.20-21
9 see Callahan, pp.16-17.
10 see Hazel Durnell, "Poems on American Family Life", in: The America of Carl Sandburg (Washington D.C.: 1965), p. 124-127.
11 cf. Callahan, p.90.
12 see Callahan, pp. 23-27.
13 ibid., p.45.
14 ibid., p.45.
Frequently Asked Questions about Carl Sandburg's "Mamie"
What is "Mamie" about?
"Mamie" is a poem by Carl Sandburg published in his "Chicago Poems" collection in 1916. It tells the story of a woman named Mamie who lives in a small Indiana town and dreams of escaping to Chicago in search of a better life. Upon arriving in Chicago, she finds the reality disappointing and continues to yearn for something more.
What are the main themes explored in the poem?
The poem explores themes of the American Dream, the pursuit of happiness, disillusionment, social commentary, and the contrast between small-town life and urban existence. It also touches on the socialist ideas regarding the challenges faced by poor people trying to achieve their dreams in an unequal society.
How is the poem structured?
The poem consists of 24 lines divided into several paragraphs. It is written in free verse, lacking traditional rhyme schemes and metrical patterns. However, there are some internal rhymes and rhythmic qualities akin to everyday speech.
What is the significance of the title "Mamie"?
The title "Mamie" provides a personal touch, suggesting a young or naive character. The '-ie' ending implies a certain vulnerability or innocence associated with the woman's name.
What is the significance of the two time-phases present in the poem?
The poem uses two distinct time-phases. The first, written in the past tense, describes Mamie's life in Indiana, her despair, and her decision to move to Chicago. The second, written in the present tense, depicts her life in Chicago, her disappointment, and her continued longing for something more. This division highlights the contrast between her expectations and the reality she faces.
How does Sandburg use imagery in "Mamie"?
Sandburg uses vivid imagery, such as railroads, trains, smoke, and engines, to symbolize Mamie's desire for escape and connection to the larger world. Images of confinement, like "bars" on the window, represent the social and emotional constraints she feels. The "basement" where Mamie works in Chicago represents the dark and undesirable aspects of her new life.
Does the poem contain autobiographical elements?
Yes, the poem contains autobiographical elements that parallel Sandburg's own life. Like Mamie, Sandburg grew up in a small town and worked various jobs, including as a delivery boy for Chicago newspapers, which exposed him to the city and its possibilities.
What is the role of "Chicago" in the poem?
Chicago represents the promise of opportunity, romance, and "big things." However, it ultimately fails to fulfill Mamie's dreams, highlighting the potential for disillusionment in the pursuit of the American Dream.
How does the poem relate to socialist ideas?
The poem can be interpreted as a critique of social inequality. Mamie's inability to achieve her dreams, despite her efforts, suggests that the system may be rigged against the poor and working class, preventing them from attaining the American Dream. Sandburg's socialist leanings and advocacy for the rights of the working class contribute to this interpretation.
What is the significance of the last line, "real dreams that never go smash"?
The last line underscores the poem's theme of disillusionment. The word "smash" is an onomatopoeia that emphasizes the destructive impact of Mamie's shattered dreams, suggesting the fragility of the American Dream for those without resources or opportunities.
- Quote paper
- Ellen Glasgow (Author), 1992, Sandburg, Carl - Mamie, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/95778
