Some Thoughts on "Threes" by Carl Sandburg

As you prepare your informal explication, remember the three fundamental questions (according to Lawrence Perrine) that should guide your analysis:
1. Who is the speaker?
2. What is the purpose of the poem?
3. By what means is the purpose achieved?

In the case of "Threes" by Carl Sandburg, we have already established through our discussion that the identity of the speaker is somewhat tricky. The key thing to keep in mind is to keep your interpretation simple. Ask yourself: what is the most logical answer to the question? Good poetry may require you to read, re-read, and read again as it slowly reveals its purpose, but good poetry does not try to obfuscate its purpose. To do so would to defeat the basic purpose of poetry: to communicate experience. Keep in mind that poetry is condensed language; every word and phrase is deliberately constructed and deliberately placed. Consequently, the most detailed and length answer in your explication is your response to question #3. The collection of rhetorical devices, oftentimes wrapped in rhyme and metre, represent the pure elements of colour through which the writer seeks to communicate his or her purpose. Your contemplation of the use of these elements will heighten your awareness of how the author uses language to guide the reader to understanding. Thus, you must be patient with the thought process; if you rush it, you will end up writing either a summary of the poem or a "what if" narrative about the poem in a parallel universe. Neither trajectory will yield an effective explication.