Description
“Chicago” poem by Carl Sandburg
1914 appeared in Poetry, first of nine “Chicago Poems”Sandburg described poem as a chant of defiance by Chicago… defiance of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, London, Paris, Berlin and RomeThe city was at the core of the meat-packing industry and a focal point for the railroadThen, as now, Chicago is a hub of commodities trading and a key financial center for agricultural markets One of the city’s many nicknames, “City of the Big Shoulders,” taken from the poem’s fifth line: HOG Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders