Question

Many battles and wars (such as the one at Gettysburg), are commemorated by statues or monuments, with some areas preserved as monuments and national parks. Do you think this contradicts the message of "Grass"? In at least 200 words, explain your thinking and cite evidence from the poem to support your opinion.

Answer 1

Many battles and wars (such as the one at Gettysburg), are commemorated by statues or monuments, with some areas preserved as monuments and national parks. This claim contradicts the view that Carl Sandburg (1918) has developed in his war poem "Grass"." I am the grass; I cover all.", the poet ,here,  believes that people forget about battles and wars. "All" refers to  the bodies from different battles and wars. The grass , "Let me work.." will naturally bury the misery and the mistakes human beings have made. Besides, time will pass and the people visiting the places where the piles of bodies were buried will just ask these simple questions : " What place is this?; Where are we now?" because society will easily forget about its own wounds. The poet's view is pessimistic. Nature will cover up human beings ' mistakes and they will make them again since they will be erased from memory. The fact that human beings repeat their mistakes is reflected when the poet mentions many wars and battles : "Austerlitz", " Waterloo", "Gettysburg" , "Ypres" and "Verdun". Therefore, monuments and national parks may be useless for  Carl Sandburg. Human beings will just forget and go to war again. War means nothing to them; they will just  "shovel the bodies under the grass."