Ready to Kill - A poem by Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg - Ready to Kill

TEN minutes now I have been looking at this.
I have gone by here before and wondered about it.
This is a bronze memorial of a famous general
Riding horseback with a flag and a sword and a revolver
on him.
I want to smash the whole thing into a pile of junk to be
hauled away to the scrap yard.
I put it straight to you,
After the farmer, the miner, the shop man, the factory
hand, the fireman and the teamster,
Have all been remembered with bronze memorials,
Shaping them on the job of getting all of us
Something to eat and something to wear,
When they stack a few silhouettes
Against the sky
Here in the park,
And show the real huskies that are doing the work of
the world, and feeding people instead of butchering them,
Then maybe I will stand here
And look easy at this general of the army holding a flag
in the air,
And riding like hell on horseback
Ready to kill anybody that gets in his way,
Ready to run the red blood and slush the bowels of men
all over the sweet new grass of the prairie.

Added: on July 10th, 2005 at 9:48 AM | Viewed: 4808 times | Comments and analysis of Ready to Kill by Carl Sandburg Comments (8)

Ready to Kill - Comments and Information
Poet: Carl Sandburg Poem: 53. Ready to Kill Volume: Chicago Poems - Chicago Poems Year: Published/Written in 1912 Comment 8 of 8, added on December 22nd, 2005 at 6:10 PM. Yo Ray he was only in the military for a year at best and was never actually in combat but other than that i agree with your idea. Jeremy from United States Comment 7 of 8, added on October 5th, 2005 at 10:52 AM. this poem is pretty good. i thought it would be more like peoople were actuallyu thinking of going to go kill others. oh, and by the way Stephanie you spelled Ray's last name wrong, and also dude. Sally from United States Comment 6 of 8, added on July 10th, 2005 at 9:48 AM. It is the soldier that Protects the freedom and maintians the peace. Without a ready and willing military other professions become the drudgery of slavery. Statues in a free society honor those who place thier lives in harms way to protect the lives of those who plow the fields, bake our bread, and man the markets. Contemporary Poetry to honor, can be found at www.PoetPatriot.com. PoetPatriot.com from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Ready to Kill, has received 8 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Carl Sandburg with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: Carl Sandburg Poem: 53. Ready to Kill Volume: Chicago Poems - Chicago Poems Year: Published/Written in 1912 Last read: May 9 2008, 5:52PM Viewed 4808 times. Added on July 10th, 2005 at 9:48 AM.

Sandburg Info
Biography More Poems (442 poems) Books