Description
“Chicago” poem by Carl Sandburg
In 1914, it appeared in Poetry, first of nine “Chicago Poems.” Sandburg described the poem as a chant of defiance by Chicago… defiance of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, London, Paris, Berlin and Rome. The city was at the core of the meat-packing industry and a focal point for the railroad. Then, 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,” is 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.
Other nicknames for the city include: The Windy City, The Second City, My Kind of Town, Sweet Home, That Toddling Town, and The Big Onion.