Back Yard

Carl Sandburg 1878 (Galesburg) – 1967 (Flat Rock)



Shine on, O moon of summer.
Shine to the leaves of grass, catalpa and oak,
All silver under your rain to-night.

An Italian boy is sending songs to you to-night from an accordion.
A Polish boy is out with his best girl; they marry next month; to-night they are throwing you kisses.

An old man next door is dreaming over a sheen that sits in a cherry tree in his back yard.

The clocks say I must go—I stay here sitting on the back porch drinking white thoughts you rain down.

Shine on, O moon,
Shake out more and more silver changes.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 20, 2023

31 sec read
96

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXX XA X X XA
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 540
Words 104
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 3, 2, 1, 1, 2

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor best known for poetry. more…

All Carl Sandburg poems | Carl Sandburg Books

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