The Green caldron - University Library

December, 1957 19
MAN'S
Sunburst at Twilight
Kay Jones
Rhetoric 102, Reference Paper
LIFE IS MUCH LIKE THE CEASELESS MOVEMENT
of the sun-star as it carries its light and energy across the heavens of
space and time. Many people believe that man has a certain pattern
or path which he is born to follow, and that like the sun, he travels this orbit
in a manner fashioned by destiny. Thus, the life of Carl Sandburg, the man,
can be compared with the pathway pursued by the solar star, the sun, as it
travels from horizon to horizon.
PRE-DAWN
The period before dawn is usually considered as a time of indecision, when
the day, about ready to be born, marks time until it can "find itself." The years
of boyhood and early youth for Carl Sandburg, although periods of hesitancy
and unrest, laid the foundation for his later portrayals of human feelings. The
efifect his family, early jobs, travelling, and the war had upon him can be found
in the many poems and works he has since created.
Carl August Sandburg was born of Swedish parents on January 6, 1878
at 331 East Third Street, Galesburg, Illinois. His father, a blacksmith for the
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad, worked ten hours a day, six days
a week, for fourteen cents an hour.^ In spite of the meager earnings, never
more than thirty-five dollars a month, Mr. Sandburg managed to support his
wife and seven children. The Sandburg family moved several times to different
parts of Galesburg, and then settled for a while in the home on Day Street
built by the elder Sandburg with the help of Carl and his younger brother
Martin. Carl's father, a "black" Swede (dark-haired), was a naturalized
citizen of the United States and a staunch supporter of the Republican party .^
When Carl was thirteen he was confirmed in the Swedish Lutheran Holy Evan-
gelical Church, where his family were faithful and active members.^
"Sholly," as his father called him, attended the Galesburg public schools
through the eighth grade, and the Swedish Lutheran summer school for four
years. In 1891 his schooling was interrupted because of lack of money.
His first job, driving a milk wagon, took him across Galesburg each morning,
and through the Knox College campus, where some of the famed Lincoln-
Douglas debates had taken place just twenty years before Carl was born.
Perhaps it was at this time in his life, when he began to hear many stories
about Lincoln, that there was ignited a spark of interest in and devotion to
the man who led the nation during the Civil War years. Certainly, the Lincoln
touch was still felt. The very presence of men who had heard, seen, met, and