I SHALL foot it
Down the roadway in the dusk,
Where shapes of hunger wander
And the fugitives of pain go by.
I shall foot it
In the silence of the morning,
See the night slur into dawn,
Hear the slow great winds arise
Where tall trees flank the way
And shoulder toward the sky.

The broken boulders by the road
Shall not commemorate my ruin.
Regret shall be the gravel under foot.
I shall watch for
Slim birds swift of wing
That go where wind and ranks of thunder
Drive the wild processionals of rain.

The dust of the traveled road
Shall touch my hands and face.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Carl Sandburg's poem The Road and the End

5 Comments

  1. Rob says:

    I think this poem was about a man that is finishing traveling on a road and is telling what he sees. At the end of the poem, the traveler finally finishes the road.

  2. Rob says:

    I think this poem was about a man that is finishing traveling on a road and is telling what he sees. At the end of the poem, the traveler finally finishes the road.

  3. Simon says:

    Love it, sweeties! I know you poem fanatics…I’m one of ’em! Keep sendin’ the sweet stuff!
    Love

  4. Lindsay says:

    I would just like to say that the poem reflects certain aspects of the Great Depression. The poem shows hardships and dismal points in life(that people living during the Great Depression might have experienced). It tells us that Americans keep on moving, keep on pushing forward, until they reach their goals or even their homes. I think it is an incredible poem that truthfully shows struggling during life and human emotion.

  5. Richie says:

    This poem signifies what, I think, all of us feel in the end. When it comes down to it, as we grow old and weary of this world, we look back and we see everything that we’ve done, everything we’ve accomplished – achieved – and we realize that certain things weren’t worth it. We regret things and they become “the gravel under foot.” I think that older people really identify with this poem because they are the ones who have experienced life and walked that road. To many of advancing years, life does indeed simply become a trudging along until you look for the “birds swift of wing” – the end of the road.

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