Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WALKING MAN OF RODIN by CARL SANDBURG

Poet Analysis

First Line: LEGS HOLD A TORSO AWAY FROM THE EARTH
Last Line: THE SKULL FOUND ALWAYS CRUMBLING NEIGHBOR OF THE ANKLES.
Subject(s): RODIN, AUGUSTE (1840-1917);
Legs hold a torso away from the earth.
And a regular high poem of legs is here.
Powers of bone and cord raise a belly and lungs
Out of ooze and over the loam where eyes look and ears hear
And arms have a chance to hammer and shoot and run motors.
You make us
proud of our legs, old man.
And you left off the head here,
The skull found always crumbling neighbor of the ankles.


Home: PoetryExplorer.net