What Shall He Tell That Son By Carl Sandburg

The poem “What Shall He Tell That Son,” a piece by Carl Sandburg, is an elaborate poem in which the author discusses the messages of a father to a son who is “nearing manhood.” In the poem, the father advises his son for him to be able to understand the changes in his life. As a father, he knows that there are no shortcuts in life but there is always another way in order to live a life with meaning and satisfaction. As the father said, “Life is hard; be steel; be a rock,” but it doesn’t always have to be that way. Life is also a “soft loam,” and sometimes the son just need to “be gentle” and “go easy.” It’s true that in order to get far in life, someone must be strong. But, that’s not really the case, as sometimes a “frail flower…has sometimes
shattered and split a rock,” the son just have to keep moving forward. Just like the father said, “Time as a stuff can be wasted,” but the son must not forget to also have time for himself - “have lazy days seeking his deeper motives.”