Subway
oppression
free verse
dark
Down between the walls of shadow Where the iron laws insist, The hunger voices mock. The worn wayfaring men With the hunched and humble shoulders, Throw their laughter into toil.
Subway - context Summary
Published in 1916
"Subway" sketches a brief, sombre scene beneath the city where industrial constraints and poverty shape human behavior. Sandburg highlights the weary, itinerant workers whose constrained lives produce a laughter that seems to be thrown into their toil. The poem compresses urban observation into stark images, emphasizing social inequality and the relentless demands of modern city life, consistent with Sandburg’s focus on working-class experience.
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