The Right to Grief
Take your fill of intimate remorse, perfumed sorrow,Over the dead child of a millionaire,And the pity of Death refusing any check on the bankWhich the millionaire might order his secretary to scratch offAnd get cashed.
Very well,You for your grief and I for mine.Let me have a sorrow my own if I want to.
I shall cry over the dead child of a stockyards hunky.His job is sweeping blood off the floor.He gets a dollar seventy cents a day when he worksAnd it's many tubs of blood he shoves out with a broom day by day.
Now his three year old daughterIs in a white coffin that cost him a week's wages.Every Saturday night he will pay the undertaker fifty cents till the debt is wiped out.
The hunky and his wife and the kidsCry over the pinched face almost at peace in the white box.They remember it was scrawny and ran up high doctor bills.They are glad it is gone for the rest of the family now will have more to eat and wear.
Yet before the majesty of Death they cry around the coffinAnd wipe their eyes with red bandanas and sob when the priest says, "God have mercy on us all."
I have a right to feel my throat choke about this.You take your grief and I mine—see?To-morrow there is no funeral and the hunky goes back to his job sweeping blood off the floor at a dollar seventy cents a day.All he does all day long is keep on shoving hog blood ahead of him with a broom.
Words in this poem
- millionaire n.
- One whose wealth is counted by millions of francs, dollars, or pounds; a very rich person; a person worth a million or more. [F. millionnaire.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- hunky a.
- All right; in a good condition; also, even; square. [Slang, U.
- saturday n.
- The seventh or last day of the week; the day following Friday and preceding Sunday. [OE. Saterday, AS. Sæterdæg, Sæterndæg, Sæternesdæg, literally, Saturn's day, fr. L. Saturnus Saturn + AS. dæg day; cf. L. dies Saturni.]
- undertaker n.
- One who undertakes; one who engages in any project or business.
- scrawny a.
- Meager; thin; rawboned; bony; scranny. [Cf. Scrannel.]
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Right to Grief 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, The Right to Grief, in Chicago Poems (1916), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sandburg-chicago-poems/the-right-to-grief.html, id L28871.
Form and metre
The Right to Grief is 25 lines in 7 stanzas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Take your fill of intimate remorse, perfumed sorrow, | 13 | ····/˘˘˘/˘//˘ |
| Over the dead child of a millionaire, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And the pity of Death refusing any check on the bank | 15 | ··/˘··˘/˘/˘···· |
| Which the millionaire might order his secretary to scratch off | 16 | ···˘/·/˘·/˘·˘··· |
| And get cashed. | 3 | ··· |
| Very well, | 3 | /˘· |
| You for your grief and I for mine. | 8 | ········ |
| Let me have a sorrow my own if I want to. | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| I shall cry over the dead child of a stockyards hunky. | 14 | ··········/·/˘ |
| His job is sweeping blood off the floor. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| He gets a dollar seventy cents a day when he works | 14 | ···/˘/˘˘······ |
| And it's many tubs of blood he shoves out with a broom day by day. | 16 | ··/˘············ |
| Now his three year old daughter | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Is in a white coffin that cost him a week's wages. | 13 | ····/˘·····/˘ |
| Every Saturday night he will pay the undertaker fifty cents till the debt is wiped out. | 24 | /˘˘/˘˘·····/˘·˘/˘······· |
| The hunky and his wife and the kids | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Cry over the pinched face almost at peace in the white box. | 14 | ······/······· |
| They remember it was scrawny and ran up high doctor bills. | 15 | ·˘/˘··/˘····/˘· |
| They are glad it is gone for the rest of the family now will have more to eat and wear. | 22 | ···········/˘˘········ |
| Yet before the majesty of Death they cry around the coffin | 16 | ····/˘˘·······/˘ |
| And wipe their eyes with red bandanas and sob when the priest says, "God have mercy on us all." | 22 | ·······/˘········/˘··· |
| I have a right to feel my throat choke about this. | 12 | ············ |
| You take your grief and I mine—see? | 8 | ········ |
| To-morrow there is no funeral and the hunky goes back to his job sweeping blood off the floor at a dollar seventy cents a day. | 34 | ·/˘···/˘˘··/˘·····/˘······/˘/˘˘··· |
| All he does all day long is keep on shoving hog blood ahead of him with a broom. | 20 | ·········/˘··˘/····· |
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