LET down your braids of hair, lady.
Cross your legs and sit before the looking-glass
And gaze long on lines under your eyes.
Life writes; men dance.
And you know how men pay women. 5
Glimmer
Analysis, meaning and summary of Carl Sandburg's poem Glimmer
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The poem is a critique on the situation of women in the world. It is a rather pessimistic view of woman’s position in society. Women are shown to be merely victims/servants of men inherent in the words “you know how men pay” although of course this is intended to be ironic. It draws attention to women’s suffering because of men. The way men treat women is focussed upon, and also the fact that women are ‘marked “/ scarred by the way they are treated (by men) They are shown to be at the receiving end of men’s actions – the reference to the lines under the eyes of women signifies pain and stress perhaps old age accelerated brought on by the usual “problems” a woman has to face as a mother and a wife. Sandburg presents woman as helpless and impotent in a male world, and this is troubling.