HAPPINESS

TS INTER FIRST YEAR ENGLISH- POETRY

HAPPINESS                                                                                                  CARL SANDBURG

About the poet

The present poem “HAPPINESS” is written by Carl Sandburg, an American poet. He is the winner of three Pulitzer prizes. Sandburg is popular for his work ‘Biography of Abraham Lincoln’.

About the poem

The present poem “HAPPINESS” is extracted from his collection of poems called “Chicago Poems. “The poem is written in free verse with a valuable message. It establishes that experience matters more than education. It also shows that man is more comfortable in the lap of Nature.

Happiness varies from person to person.

“The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.”

Gist

This poem presents the narrator’s search for the true meaning of happiness and his ultimate realization. The narrator seeks to know what happiness is.  The narrator went to the Professors who teach the meaning of life to the people and asked them about the meaning of happiness. Here the word the professors” represents “intelligence and success” but they didn’t answer the question. His attempt to find an answer from the professors resulted in vain.

Then he consulted “the famous executives” who boss the work of thousands of men but to no avail. These people represent “money and popularity” and they were also unable to answer the question. Here also his was a futile attempt to find an answer.

The professors and the executives smiled at him in reply of the question asked by the narrator.  They felt that the narrator was trying to fool them. So they could not answer him.

One Sunday afternoon, while wandering along the Desplaines River, he saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees. They are enjoying their life. They are with their wives and children, making merriment. There is a lot of fun, and joy with their people, drink dance and music.

The word ‘’Hungarians” represents the “spiritually rich and blessed families”. These people do not have money, intelligence or success. But they are the symbol of the real meaning of happiness. They know how to live in the moment. They make the best they have and they share the time with people they care about. They have a passion to live and feel the moment through all their soul. There he finds the real meaning of happiness from the common people and has the ultimate realization.

Annotations

a). I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what happiness is.

Reference: This line is taken from the poem, 'HAPPINESS' written by Carl Sandburg, an American poet. The poem is  from his collection of 'Chicago Songs'. It is a simple poem with a valuable message.

Context: This poem is about a man who tries to find the “meaning of happiness” from different people and different perspectives but finds the real meaning of happiness from a crowd of Hungarians with their women and children..

Explanation:  The narrator wants to know what happiness is, he consults many people. At first, he approaches the professors and asks them to tell him what happiness is. The professors are the learned men. They claim that they teach the meaning of life, but they fail to answer the narrator. Here, the word professors represent ‘knowledge, intelligence and success.’ Yet they fail to answer the narrator's question. So his attempt to find an answer from the professors results in vain.

Comment: The poet uses lot of symbols to describe his findings about the real meaning of happiness. It gives the message that happiness is not about being rich or successful or having a good career but having passion in life, feeling the moment and living in it, via our soul.

Wisdom lies in lives but not in libraries

b). They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was trying to fool with them.

Reference: This line is taken from the poem, 'HAPPINESS' written by Carl Sandburg, an American poet. The poem is  from his collection of 'Chicago Songs'. It is a simple poem with a valuable message.

Context: This poem is about a man who tries to find the “meaning of happiness” from different people and different perspectives but finds the real meaning of happiness from a crowd of Hungarians with their women and children.

Explanation: The narrator, in pursuit of an answer to his quest which is to know what happiness is, consults the famous executives.  He asks them to tell him what happiness is. The executives boss the work of thousands of men. They are the symbols of ‘wealth and a successful career’. But they also fail to answer his question.

When the narrator tries to know what happiness is from the professors and the executives, they smile at him. They think his question is a trivial one. They also feel that he's trying to fool them.

Comment: The poet uses a lot of symbols to describe his findings about the real meaning of happiness. It gives the message that happiness is not about being rich or successful or having a good career but having passion in life, feeling the moment and living in it, via our soul.

Wisdom lies in lives but not in libraries

c). And then one Sunday afternoon. I wandered out along the Desplaines River.

Reference: This line is taken from the poem, 'HAPPINESS' written by Carl Sandburg. He is an American poet. Happiness is a poem from his collection of 'Chicago Songs'. It is a simple poem with a valuable message.

Context: This poem is about a man who tries to find the “meaning of happiness” from different people and different perspectives but finds the real meaning of happiness from a crowd of Hungarians with their women and children.

Explanation: The Narrative seeks to know what happiness is.  He enquires with many professors, but in vain. Even the top executives are consulted but to no avail. So, one Sunday afternoon, he wanders along a river. Then he comes across a group of Hungarians including women and children. They are spending happy moments under the tree. He at once understands, what happiness is happiness, is living in the present feeling. Happiness is not wealth, or success or fame.

Comment: The poet uses lot of symbols to describe his findings about the real meaning of happiness. It gives the message that happiness is not about being rich or successful or having a good career but having passion in life, feeling the moment and living in it, via our soul.

Man finds more comfort in the lap of Nature than in materialistic gains.

d). And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with their women and children and a keg of beer and an Accordion.

Reference: This line is taken from the poem, 'HAPPINESS' written by Carl Sandburg. He is an American poet. Happiness is a poem from his collection of 'Chicago Songs'. It is a simple poem with a valuable message.

Context: This poem is an expression of the narrator's search for the real meaning of happiness and his ultimate realization. This poem is about a man who tries to find the “meaning of happiness” from different people and different perspectives but finds the real meaning of happiness from a crowd of Hungarians with their women and children.

Explanation: While he wanders along the Desplaines River, he comes across a group of Hungarians including women and children. They are spending happy moments under the tree.  The word ‘’Hungarians” represents the “spiritually rich and blessed families”. These people do not have money, intelligence or success. But they are the symbol of the real meaning of happiness. They know how to live in the moment. They make the best they have and they share the time with people they care about. They have a passion to live and feel the moment through all their soul. There he finds the real meaning of happiness from the common people and has the ultimate realization.

Comment: The poet uses a lot of symbols to describe his findings about the real meaning of happiness. It gives the message that happiness is not about being rich or successful or having a good career but having passion in life, feeling the moment and living in it via our soul.

The only source of knowledge is experience.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

a). Explain the narrator’s experience in finding out what happiness is.

A. The present poem “HAPPINESS” is written by Carl Sandburg, an American poet. He is the winner of three Pulitzer prizes. Sandburg is popular for his work ‘Biography of Abraham Lincoln’.

The poem is written in free verse with a valuable message. It establishes that experience matters more than education. This poem presents the narrator’s search for knowing the true meaning of happiness and his ultimate realization. The narrator seeks to know what happiness is.  The narrator enquires with many Professors who teach the meaning of life to the people but in vain. Here the word ‘professors’ represents ‘intelligence and success’. Then he consults ‘the famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men but to no avail. These people represent ‘money and popularity’. Here also his is a futile attempt to find an answer.  The professors and the executives smile at him in reply to the question asked by the narrator.  They think that the narrator is trying to fool them.

b). Seeing helps one better in understanding than listening to. Justify this statement with reference to the poem ‘HAPPINESS’.

A. The present poem “HAPPINESS” is written by Carl Sandburg, an American poet. He is the winner of three Pulitzer prizes. Sandburg is popular for his work ‘Biography of Abraham Lincoln’.

The poem is written in free verse with a valuable message. It establishes that experience matters more than education. It also shows that man is more comfortable in the lap of Nature. This poem presents the narrator’s search for knowing the true meaning of happiness and his ultimate realization

One Sunday afternoon, while wandering along the Desplaines River, he sees a crowd of Hungarians under the trees. They are enjoying their life. They are with their wives and children, making merriment. There is a lot of fun, and joy with their people, drink dance and music. They are the symbol of the real meaning of happiness. They know how to live in the moment. They make the best they have and they share the time with people they care about. They have a passion to live and feel the moment through all their soul. There he finds the real meaning of happiness from the common people and has the ultimate realization.

Thus it is justified that seeing helps one better in understanding than listening to

Message: Experience matters more than education.