How Did Carl Sandburg Influence Poetry

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg was an American poet, writer, and folk musician. Sandburg was born January 6, 1878 in Galesburg, Illinois. “Carl Sandburg is the only American poet ever to address Congress” (“A Workingman’s poet”). He would compose his poetry in free verse. “If it jells into free verse, all right. If it jells into rhyme, all right” (“Carl Sandburg”). Sandburg won many awards for his work as a writer and poet. Sandburg would also publish stories for children. Sandburg was once asked if he would rather be called a poet, a biographer, or historian, he then replied that “he didn’t think it was important what he was called” (Bolin).

There were some people that would criticizes Sandburg for using free verse, saying it didn’t make sense, but his work was carefully written and it made sense to many people. Carl Sandburg influenced poetry by using free verse in a time when there

Completed on the eve of World War II, his Lincoln series reconnected readers with a wartime leader at just the time that Americans hungered for tales of resolve and ultimate military victory” (Heitman). Sandburg's research on Lincoln was so intense all he wanted to write about for the next 13 years is the president. He even went to the white house to learn and get more research about Lincoln. Sandburg was so caught up in him Sandburg had read more than 1,000 books about him. “Finally, in 1939 Carl Sandburg published the four-volume Pulitzer-Prize winning biography “Abraham Lincoln” (Lincoln).

Some people thought very highly of Carl Sandburg, “Carl Sandburg was more than the voice of America, more than the poet of its strength and genius,” President Lyndon B. Johnson said upon news of Sandburg’s death. “He was America” (Heitman). Carl Sandburg was criticized by how he wrote, but he had a terrific support system backing him that motivated to keep on doing what he loved.