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 Glad Robinson Youse (b. 1898), "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