In a Breath (To the Williamson Brothers)
High noon. White sun flashes on the Michigan Avenue asphalt. Drum of hoofs and whirr of motors. Women trapsing along in flimsy clothes catching play of sun-fire to their skin and eyes.
Inside the playhouse are movies from under the sea. From the heat of pavements and the dust of side-walks, passers-by go in a breath to be witnesses of large cool sponges, large cool fishes, large cool valleys and ridges of coral spread silent in the soak of the ocean floor thousands of years.
A naked swimmer dives. A knife in his right hand shoots a streak at the throat of a shark. The tail of the shark lashes. One swing would kill the swimmer. . . Soon the knife goes into the soft underneck of the veering fish. . . Its mouthful of teeth, each tooth a dagger itself, set row on row, glistens when the shuddering, yawning cadaver is hauled up by the brothers of the swimmer.
Outside in the street is the murmur and singing of life in the sun—horses, motors, women trapsing along in flimsy clothes, play of sun-fire in their blood.
Words in this poem
- avenue n.
- A way or opening for entrance into a place; a passage by which a place may by reached; a way of approach or of exit. [F. avenue, fr. avenir to come to, L. advenire. See Advene.]
- whirr v. i.
- To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
- playhouse n.
- A building used for dramatic exhibitions; a theater. [AS. pleghus.]
- dives n.
- The name popularly given to the rich man in our Lord's parable of the [L., rich.]
- mouthful n.
- As much as is usually put into the mouth at one time.
- cadaver n.
- A dead human body; a corpse. [L., fr cadere to fall.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In a Breath (To the Williamson Brothers) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Chicago Poems, Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Carl Sandburg, In a Breath (To the Williamson Brothers), in Chicago Poems (1916), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sandburg-chicago-poems/in-a-breath.html, id L28897.
Form and metre
In a Breath (To the Williamson Brothers) is 4 lines in 4 stanzas of 1 lines each.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| High noon. White sun flashes on the Michigan Avenue asphalt. Drum of hoofs and whirr of motors. Women trapsing along in flimsy clothes catching play of sun-fire to their skin and eyes. | 46 | ····/˘··/˘˘/˘·/·······/˘/˘/˘˘/·/˘·/˘···/˘····· |
| Inside the playhouse are movies from under the sea. From the heat of pavements and the dust of side-walks, passers-by go in a breath to be witnesses of large cool sponges, large cool fishes, large cool valleys and ridges of coral spread silent in the soak of the ocean floor thousands of years. | 71 | ˘/·/··/˘·········/˘······/˘·······/˘˘···/˘··/˘··/˘·/˘·/˘·/˘·····/˘·/˘·· |
| A naked swimmer dives. A knife in his right hand shoots a streak at the throat of a shark. The tail of the shark lashes. One swing would kill the swimmer. . . Soon the knife goes into the soft underneck of the veering fish. . . Its mouthful of teeth, each tooth a dagger itself, set row on row, glistens when the shuddering, yawning cadaver is hauled up by the brothers of the swimmer. | 90 | ·/˘/˘·····················/˘·····/˘·············/˘··/······/˘˘/····/˘··/˘˘/˘˘/˘·····/˘··/˘ |
| Outside in the street is the murmur and singing of life in the sun—horses, motors, women trapsing along in flimsy clothes, play of sun-fire in their blood. | 39 | //·····/˘·/˘·····/˘/˘/˘/˘˘/·/˘····/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.