by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)
Under a telephone pole
Language: English
I am a copper wire slung in the air,
Slim against the sun I make not even a clear line of shadow.
Night and day I keep singing -- humming and thrumming:
It is love and war and money; it is the fighting and the tears, the work and want,
Death and laughter of men and women passing through me, carrier of your speech,
In the rain and the wet dripping, in the dawn and the shine drying,
A copper wire.
Text Authorship:
- by Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967), "Under a telephone pole", 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 Sam Raphling (b. 1910), "Under a telephone pole", published 1973 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Four Chicago Poems [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-17
Line count: 7
Word count: 80