Carl Sandburg’s speaker is a bricklayer who once felt so low compared to the man the woman loves—a drugstore owner—that he considered killing himself. Now that sharp despair has cooled into something quieter. He still thinks of her, but he no longer burns with jealousy or shame. Instead, he works with more care, laying bricks straighter and singing slower in the afternoons. Thoughts of her return during the hard moments: sun in his eyes, shaky ladders, mortar boards going wrong. The mood is wistful and tired, but also steady. Love hasn’t disappeared; it has settled into the rhythm of physical labor. There’s sadness in knowing he isn’t the man she chose, yet his focus on bricklaying suggests a kind of acceptance, even dignity, in simply continuing the day’s work.
Bricklayer Love — Summary
I THOUGHT of killing myself because I am only a bricklayer and you a woman who loves the man who runs a drug store.
I don't care like I used to; I lay bricks straighter than I used to and I sing slower handling the trowel afternoons.
When the sun is in my eyes and the ladders are shaky and the mortar boards go wrong, I think of you.