Carl Sandburg’s “New Farm Tractor” captures a moment of change on the farm. The speaker describes the tractor in old-fashioned terms: its engine carries the strength of twenty mules, its axles have the kick of twenty Missouri jackasses, and its fuel is just oil and grease instead of hay and oats. There is real admiration for the machine’s toughness and self-sufficiency. But the mood is also wistful. The farm boy says hello to the tractor instead of a mule team, and the speaker carves long-eared mules on the steering wheel as a small tribute. It is a quiet goodbye to leather reins and mule-skinner songs, mixing pride in the new with gentle nostalgia for the old.
New Farm Tractor — Summary
Snub nose, the guts of twenty mules are in your cylinders and transmission. The rear axles hold the kick of twenty Missouri jackasses. It is in the records of the patent office and the ads there is twenty horse power pull here. The farm boy says hello to you instead of twenty mules — he sings to you instead of ten span of mules. A bucket of oil and a can of grease is your hay and oats. Rain proof and fool proof they stable you anywhere in the fields with the stars for a roof. I carve a team of long ear mules on the steering wheel — it's good-by now to leather reins and the songs of the old mule skinners.