Wilderness
by Carl Sandburg
There is a wolf in me . . . fangs pointed for tearing gashes . . . a red tongue for raw meat . . . and the hot lapping of blood—I keep this wolf because the wilderness gave it to me and the wilderness will not let it go.
There is a fox in me . . . a silver-gray fox . . . I sniff and guess . . . I pick things out of the wind and air . . . I nose in the dark night and take sleepers and eat them and hide the feathers . . . I circle and loop and double-cross.
There is a hog in me . . . a snout and a belly . . . a machinery for eating and grunting . . . a machinery for sleeping satisfied in the sun—I got this too from the wilderness and the wilderness will not let it go.
There is a fish in me . . . I know I came from salt-blue water-gates . . . I scurried with shoals of herring . . . I blew waterspouts with porpoises . . . before land was . . . before the water went down . . . before Noah . . . before the first chapter of Genesis.
There is a baboon in me . . . clambering-clawed . . . dog-faced . . . yawping a galoot’s hunger . . . hairy under the armpits . . . here are the hawk-eyed hankering men . . . here are the blonde and blue-eyed women . . . here they hide curled asleep waiting . . . ready to snarl and kill . . . ready to sing and give milk . . . waiting—I keep the baboon because the wilderness says so.
There is an eagle in me and a mockingbird . . . and the eagle flies among the Rocky Mountains of my dreams and fights among the Sierra crags of what I want . . . and the mockingbird warbles in the early forenoon before the dew is gone, warbles in the underbrush of my Chattanoogas of hope, gushes over the blue Ozark foothills of my wishes—And I got the eagle and the mockingbird from the wilderness.
O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie, inside my ribs, under my bony head, under my red-valve heart—and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where: it is going to God-Knows-Where—For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness.
Summary of Wilderness
- Popularity of “Wilderness”: The poem Wilderness by Carl Sandburg, a popular American imagist poet, appeared in 1916 in the collection, Chicago Poems. In this poem, the poet terms his inner side as a wilderness housing almost every other known animal the features of which he shows in the open through his behavior. The poem beautifully presents these features through different animal images. The popularity of the poem lies in its unusual descriptive format.
- “Wilderness” As a Representative of Man’s Status Among God’s Creatures: The poet, who is the speaker of the poem, states that there are several animals in him, including a wolf, fox, hog, fish, baboon, and a bird, an eagle. He recounts the features of all those animals through different metaphorical representations to point out that he has these features in him which demonstrates his capability to house all these animals inside him. He, however, comes to the point in the end that despite his desires and wishes, he has all other human characteristics ranging from a child to a father and a mother to a lover in him. Only God knows why he has all these things in him, and he is unaware of where they will go but he is certain of one thing that he is a zoo in himself due to his belonging to the wilderness.
- Major Themes in “Wilderness”: Man’s place in the universe, his relations with the animal world, the wilderness, and God are some of the major thematic strands of the poem “Wilderness.” The poet places man in the center, saying he is from the wilderness, presenting himself as a representative of humanity. By saying this, he also recounts several features of a man that he presents through the features of animals. He recounts them show man’s relations with the animal world. In a pithy statement, it means man is a social animal with his primeval links to the wilderness. However, man is unaware of where he is heading with all this, and where all this has come to him and in him. Only God knows which shows the poet’s unwavering faith in God. However, the three important tasks that the poet performs are to sing, to kill, and to work which are integral to man. The references to the first flood, Genesis, Noah, Rocky Mountains, Chattanooga, and Ozark show this primeval relations of man with God as well as with wilderness.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Wilderness
Carl Sandburg demonstrates his skill of using varied literary devices to enhance the meanings of his poem. Some of the major literary devices given in this poem are as follows.
- Anaphora: This literary device shows a word, or phrase, or clause repeated in the beginnings of verses or sentences. The poem shows the use of anaphora such as “There is a…” It is repeated several times at the start of all first six stanzas.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “here are the hawk-eyed hankering men” and the sound of /o/ in “O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /w/ in “wilderness will” or /s/ in “sleeping satisfied.”
- Allusions: It means to cite a reference of something that is important in religion, history, literature, or culture. The poem shows allusions of religion such as Noah and Genesis and regions such as Chattanooga and Ozark.
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “I know I came from salt-blue water-gates” and the sound of /s/ in “it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where.”
- Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. The poem shows open irony, such as “There is a fish in me” or “There is a baboon in me” and so on.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Carl Sandburg has used imagery in this poem such as “fangs pointed for tearing gashes”, “a red tongue for raw meat” and “I nose in the dark night and take sleepers and eat them and hide the feathers.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet has used a plethora of metaphors to point out his main idea, such as;
- There is a fox in me.
- I came from salt-blue water-gates.
- Here are the hawk-eyed hankering men.
- I got a menagerie in me.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as a snout, belly, machinery, water gates, and so on to point out that man is a social animal and belongs to the animal kingdom.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Wilderness
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: Diction means the type of language, and tone means the voice of the text. The poem shows the use of formal and narrative diction, but the tone is highly complicated and, at times, spiritual.
- Style: It means the poetic style. The poem shows a narrative and extended sentence style.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are seven stanzas in this poem with varying lengths.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about man’s place in the wilderness or animal kingdom or on this earth.
O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie, inside my ribs, under my bony head, under my red-valve heart—and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where: it is going to God-Knows-Where—For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness.