Meditation at Arlington [Signed by Carl Sandburg]

No Publisher Stated. Very Good. 1943. Broadside. The leaf has been trimmed by hand, inexpertly, and only the tail edge is truly parallel to the printed text. Very faint offsetting from an adjacent object. The leaf is lightly tanned at the very edge of the tail.; This is transcript of a radio address delivered by Carl Sandburg on the Hour of Charm program on NBC radio, sponsored by General Electric. The primarily- musical program also allotted time for opinion pieces on culture and world affairs. During World War II, the world affairs topics turned to the rise of fascism, the European theater of war, the declaration of war by Japan, the Chicago Tribune headline "Our Country, Right or Wrong," and the program reinforced that patriotism was a civic obligation. This topical atmosphere was fertile ground for 'Americanist' Carl Sandburg's observations about the country in time of war. In this address, Sandburg pays tribute to the interred "unknown soldier," the equally anonymous hundreds of thousands who worked to support the war effort, the futility of war, and the fragility of peace. An excerpt: "What if the sleeping one there at Arlington tonight should wake and speak to these / anonymous ones? He might have any one of a thousand questions to ask, and perhaps not / least would be, "Wasn't the war we fought supposed to be a war to end war?" // And perhaps someone with a solemn face and a voice not free from grief and guilt would / answer, "Yes, but when peace came we didn't know how to keep the peace." Signed in ink "Carl Sandburg," in small script below the printed address. This single 10 3/8" x 7" leaf appears to have been trimmed from the original leaf. An institutional example is 12 1/4" high. Printed on cream, mould made heavy paper. Printed at the tail edge of the leaf: "Delivered by Mr. Sandburg / on the / G-E Mazda Lamp Hour of Charm / Feb. 7, 1943" "Copyright 1943 by Carl Sandburg". No publisher stated. Carl Sandburg was a free verse poet, prose author, and political activist in support of the higher ideals of the United States. This address collected many of his views on war in a concise way. Four found in OCLC. Signed by Sandburg, clean and in Very Good condition. ; 1 pages; Signed by Author .