To Niall—xxx. —T.F. “Theme in Yellow” originally appeared in (Henry Holt; New York; 1916). Published in 2023 by Cameron + Company, a division of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. ISBN: 978-1-951836-92-4 Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cameron Kids is an imprint of Cameron + Company Cameron + Company Petaluma, California www.cameronbooks.com
petite poems
THEME IN YELLOW
CARL SANDBURG
I spot the hills With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October When dusk is fallen
Children join hands And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
And the children know I am fooling.
THEME IN YELLOW
by CARL SANDBURG
I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.
ABOUT THE POEM
“Theme in Yellow” explores the coming of autumn and the joys of Halloween—all told through the eyes of a pumpkin that becomes a jack-o’-lantern. In the poem, Carl Sandburg writes of the beauty of the rolling hills, cornfields as they transition through the seasons, and the children that revel in autumn’s festivities.
ABOUT THE POET
Carl Sandburg was an American poet, journalist, biographer, and editor. In 1912, he moved to Chicago, where he was deeply inspired by the industrial city that became his adopted home. Carl’s vivid poetry sought to find beauty where others normally wouldn’t—the farms, the smoke from the factories, the railroad tracks—and hold them as a point of pride.
To learn more about Carl Sandburg, visit the Academy of American Poets, www.poems.org.
HOW DO YOU COLOR THE WORLD?
What would it be like to see the world from the perspective of a pumpkin, or any object, for that matter? How does a pair of shoes, beaten up from carrying us everywhere, experience the world? What is it like to be a painting hung on the wall of a museum, your favorite mug for hot chocolate, or a book tucked away on a library shelf?
Try exploring the world from a different perspective, like “Theme in Yellow” does! Write a poem from the point of view of an object.
Carl Sandburg (1878–1967), photo by Al Ravenna, Library of Congress
