Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


OLD WOMAN by CARL SANDBURG

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE OWL-CAR CLATTERS ALONG, DOGGED BY THE ECHO
Last Line: HOMELESS.
Subject(s): HOMELESS; OLD AGE; WOMEN;

THE owl-car clatters along, dogged by the echo
From building and battered paving-stone;
The headlight scoffs at the mist
And fixes its yellow rays in the cold slow rain;
Against a pane I press my forehead
And drowsily look on the walls and sidewalks.

The headlight finds the way
And life is gone from the wet and the welter --
Only an old woman, bloated, disheveled and bleared.
Far-wandered waif of other days,
Huddles for sleep in a doorway,
Homeless.



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