English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

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 cam 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?

By Carl Sandburg
i dont understand this poem and i need a complere analization soon please
thanks

2006-11-14 15:45:54 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference Quotations

9 answers

it talks about the world and what is happening around the world. in the first part it deals with war and why men die and why they especially the French have decided to die for their country. it shows and deals with being a patriot as well as taking the words to the heart and that men die for the promises made. Part 2: it ing,talks about aging, gaining some knowledge as well as learning to be more patriotic, appreciating the important and most important things in life as well as understanding why people still fight to keep you safe in times of war. it says that a war goes on but as you grow so do your perspectives and priorities in life and you become a wiser and more knowlegeable person. Part 3: more war, more losses, more pain, time passing fast, taking things for granted as well as dealing with the political world and communism and chaos going on in Russia while the people rebel. Part 4: it is a dad telling his kid what he remembers as both good and bad times and how he is happy to have met his wife and to have a simple life and nothing more.

2006-11-14 15:58:46 · answer #1 · answered by icycrissy27blue 5 · 0 0

Ohmigod!!!!!! The first verse is about the French revolution and the third is about the Russian revolution. No clue about verses 2 and 4.

Why do men die for words? the poem asks. I think in all cases men are willing to fight for the things that represent freedom to them. In the French revolution this was freedom from the ruling classes and no man being regarded as less than another. In the Russian revolution it was broadly the same idea. Can't comment on verse 2 (way too cryptic) but the last verse is possibly about what that man would be prepared to fight for - the things that matter to him.

Sorry, I'm hopeless but I wanted to have a try! Best of luck kiddo.

2006-11-15 02:03:12 · answer #2 · answered by nellyenno 3 · 0 0

Carl Sandburg writes about the American Experience, in this poem he is comparing the American Priorities, Food, Goods and Love with Higher Ideals. It places Americans in the hear and now adn how that grew from the time of the French Revolution, through the Russian Revolution. Think of it as the words he would choose for the American Revolutions based on a knowledge of those other countries.

2006-11-14 17:23:04 · answer #3 · answered by fancyname 6 · 0 0

I think it would do you good to actually think about it. The first stanza is about the French Revolution...so the poor masses gathered together to fight against the monarchy for their right to live. And that's a romanticized explanation because there was a ton of bloodshed and the guillotine and everything.

In different places, different values because most important, and it just sort of talks about that.

I had to mention the French Revolution because I'm interested in it. Anyways, the point lies in the last stanza. Comparing the United States to all of these. Each of the places have three values stated. Does the stanza about the U.S.?

I mean, I gave you a lot already, so just put everything together and think about it. Good luck. :-)

-Lena

2006-11-14 17:36:47 · answer #4 · answered by Lena 1 · 0 0

Basically, it describes what is important to people at different times. It also shows how priorities change depending upon ages. It is interesting that people who look back on war have different priorites to those who are involved in fighting. Those who look back seem to glorify war, whereas the soldier is interested in the here and now. Indeed, if you study the words, it seems to be that politicians talk about duty to your country, but the marine is interested in what is important to him to survive!

Can I also say that it is an excellent poem! Just read it slowly and out loud and see what you can get out of it. Try rewording it in your own words.

With the responses you have had, you should get a good start for your essay!

2006-11-14 17:14:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I don't know this poem but I know that the poet is
American It is free form in that it has no structure as such and does not rhyme. In it he refers the French, American and Russian revolutions The threes probably refer to the holy trinity of the father the son and the holy spirit The end has probably got something to do with the global expansion of capitalism and the rise of American values represented by the US marine asking for ham and eggs in a foreign port, up to date he would have asked for a big mac. This would probably have been written at sometime around the end of WW2 asking if the US intervention had been welcome and if they were appreciated for it
I have to say that maybe I have mentioned things that resonate with you and you should remember that your tutor has probably been steering you in certain direction

2006-11-14 17:34:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

We sat interior the farm-residing house previous, Whose residing house windows, searching o’er the bay, Gave to the sea-breeze damp and chilly, a normal the front, nighttime and day. not far-off we said the port, The unusual, previous-shaped, silent city, The lighthouse, the dismantled fortress, The timber residences, quaint and brown. We sat and talked until eventually the nighttime, Descending, filled the little room; Our faces dwindled from the sight, Our voices purely broke the gloom. We spake of many a vanished scene, Of what we once had idea and reported, Of what were, and may were, And who replaced into replaced, and who replaced into lifeless; And all that fills the hearts of friends, even as first they experience, with secret soreness, Their lives thenceforth have separate ends, and by no potential may be one again; the first mild swerving of the middle, That words are powerless to exhibit, And go away it nonetheless unsaid partly, Or say it in too tremendous extra. The very tones in which we spake Had something unusual, i might want to yet mark; The leaves of memory looked as if it would make A mournful rustling contained in the darkish. Oft died the words upon our lips, As by wonder, from out the fireplace outfitted of the ruin of stranded ships, The flames might want to bounce and then expire. And, as their attractiveness flashed and failed, We considered wrecks upon the numerous, Of ships dismasted, that were hailed And despatched no answer decrease back again. The residing house windows, damn of their frames, the sea, roaring up the coastline, The gusty blast, the bickering flames, All mingled vaguely in our speech; until eventually they made themselves area of fancies floating by the mind, The lengthy-lost ventures of the middle, That deliver no solutions decrease back again. O flames that glowed! O hearts that yearned! They were certainly too a lot akin, The drift-timber fireplace without that burned, The recommendations that burned and glowed interior of. The voice is positively sentimental. The meaning, i imagine, interior of reason complication-free; that is about the passage of time. He looks decrease back and recollects the foreign places he's been (the lighthouse, the city, residences, etc), sees the sea as an section to flow ahead from (recommendations the interest "the front"), sits with friends from the previous discussing time's effect on each and every thing. He then mentions the fireplace "outfitted of the ruin of stranded ships," alluding to the nature of time: the present is made from the previous, yet how the previous quickly vanishes and "sends no solutions decrease back again." beautiful poem.

2016-11-29 03:52:43 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

It,s all about the portrayal of war in the eyes of the French , Russian and American,s. I think it is an excellent poem.I depicts how war affected all three nations and the type of soldiers these men were.At the end of the day war is war not matter what Race Colour or Creed you are !

2006-11-15 01:58:21 · answer #8 · answered by Helen L 2 · 0 0

Different views of the same thing -- what's worth dying for -- from different points of view such as age or nationality. That ought to give you a little start on your homework.

2006-11-14 15:52:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers