Chicago

OG Butcher for the World,     Tool Maker,

Stacker of Wheat,     Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight        Handler;     Stormy, husky, brawling,     City of the Big Shoulders:

They tell me you are wicked and I believe them, for I     have seen your painted women under the gas lamps     luring the farm boys.

And they tell me you are crooked and I answer:

Yes, it     is true I have seen the gunman kill and go free to     kill again.

And they tell me you are brutal and my reply is:

On the     faces of women and children I have seen the marks     of wanton hunger.

And having answered so I turn once more to those who     sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer     and say to them:

Come and show me another city with lifted head singing     so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cun-     ning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on     job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the     little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning     as a savage pitted against the wilderness,     Bareheaded,     Shoveling,     Wrecking,     Planning,     Building, breaking, rebuilding,

Under the smoke, dust all over his mouth, laughing with     white teeth,

Under the terrible burden of destiny laughing as a young     man laughs,

Laughing even as an ignorant fighter laughs who has     never lost a battle,

Bragging and laughing that under his wrist is the pulse,     and under his ribs the heart of the people,                        Laughing!

Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of     Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog     Butcher,

Tool Maker,

Stacker of Wheat,

Player with     Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation.

Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.

The lyrical form of this poem is unrhyming.