Carl Sandburg, Good Morning, America (1928).
“
Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly the air. … Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. … Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away. … Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during the moment.
— Carl Sandburg on Poetry
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Poetry is the journal of the sea animal living on land, wanting to fly the air. … Poetry is a search for syllables to shoot at the barriers of the unknown and the unknowable. … Poetry is a phantom script telling how rainbows are made and why they go away. … Poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what is seen during the moment." in the context of "Carl Sandburg, Good Morning, America (1928)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Poetry" (S)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Carl Sandburg
Carl August Sandburg (6 January 1878 –22 July 1967) was an American poet, historian, novelist, balladeer and folklorist.
About Carl Sandburg
Carl August Sandburg (6 January 1878 –22 July 1967) was an American poet, historian, novelist, balladeer and folklorist.
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