I am got write 2 page paper on this poem and i need HELP!!!?

Question

THREES by Carl Sandburg

I was a boy when I heard three red words
a thousand Frenchmen died in the streets
for: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity--I asked
why men die for words.

I was older; men with mustaches, sideburns,
lilacs, told me the high golden words are:
Mother, Home, and Heaven--other older men with
face decorations said: God, Duty, Immortality
--they sang these threes slow from deep lungs.

Years ticked off their say-so on the great clocks
of doom and damnation, soup, and nuts: meteors flashed
their say-so: and out of great Russia came three
dusky syllables workmen took guns and went out to die
for: Bread, Peace, Land.

And I met a marine of the U.S.A., a leatherneck with a girl on his knee
for a memory in ports circling the earth and he said: Tell me how to say
three things and I always get by--gimme a plate of ham and eggs--how
much--and--do you love me, kid?


I HAVE NO CLUE ON WHERE TO START :(

Yeah this does help a little and im sorry ppl i hate english we dont match very well. so the poem is pretty much about ppl takin things for granted the things that they have while lookin at things that they dont have is that right???

Answer 1

What are the three things most important to you? Are they things you already have a lot of, or are they things you would like to have more of? Do you think that people value things they don't have more highly than things they do have? (Think about the French, who did not have liberty, equality and fraternity, and the Russians who were denied bread, peace and land.) Here on Earth, we take air, water and food pretty much for granted, but on Mars we might feel differently. I hope these questions help you find some points to write about. Good luck.

Answer 2

The poem is by Carl Sandburg, from his book of verse titled "Smoke and Steel", chapter IV "Playthings of the Wind"

Carl Sandburg lived from 1878–1967 and "Smoke and Steel" was published in 1922.

The poem itself is about the beliefs that man will go to war over - the first is the French Revolution.

Answer 3

yeah....i don't know. i'm gonna take a guess. i really don't know much about carl sandburg. (maybe you should get some background on him and his life. that might give you a hint as to what he might be talking about) what is worth dying for? the simple things, maybe. like the marine at the end, talking about his memories of the service. to me, it reads like, there's a girl on his knee-maybe a grand-daughter. and that's what was worth risking his life for, how much....he would give for posterity. and a good meal-maybe the ham and eggs. like, that's all it took for him. i really have no idea if this is even close.

Answer 4

Write 1/2 page about each section of the paper, Tell what you think it means and how you feel about it.