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by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

The Junk Man
Language: English 
I am glad God saw Death
And gave Death a job taking care of all who are tired
     of living:

When all the wheels in a clock are worn and slow and
     the connections loose
And the clock goes on ticking and telling the wrong time
     from hour to hour
And people around the house joke about what a bum
     clock it is,
How glad the clock is when the big Junk Man drives
     his wagon
Up to the house and puts his arms around the clock and
     says:
          "You don't belong here,
          You gotta come
          Along with me,"
How glad the clock is then, when it feels the arms of the
     Junk Man close around it and carry it away.

Text Authorship:

  • by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), "The Junk Man", appears in Chicago Poems, first published 1916 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Junk Man", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Howard Swanson (1907 - 1978), "The Junk Man", published 1950 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gladys (Glad) Robinson Youse (1898 - 1985), "The Junk Man", published 1958 [ SSA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-07-08
Line count: 18
Word count: 121

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