OUT of white lips a question: Shall seven million dead ask for their blood a little land for the living wives and children, a
little land for the living brothers and sisters?
 
Out of white lips:—Shall they have only air that sweeps round the earth for breath of their nostrils and no footing on
the dirt of the earth for their battle-drabbed, battle-soaked shoes?
 
Out of white lips:—Is the red in the flag the blood of a free man on a piece of land his own or is it the red of a
sheep slit in the throat for mutton?
 
Out of white lips a white pain murmurs: Who shall have land? Him who has stood ankle deep in the blood of his comrades, in
the red trenches dug in the land?

Added: Feb 4 2004 | Viewed: 1672 times | Comments (0)

Poet: Carl Sandburg
Poem: 11. Out of White Lips
Volume: Cornhuskers
- Shenandoah
Year: Published/Written in 1918
There are no comments for this poem. Why not be the first one to post something about it?

Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Out of White Lips, has not yet been commented on. You can click here to be the first to post a comment about it. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Carl Sandburg with others on the American Poems poetry forum!