Carl Sandburg

Theme in Yellow

Summary

The poem adopts the voice of a pumpkin that surveys autumnal hills and fields—orange and tawny gold—and becomes a jack-o'-lantern on Halloween, lit at dusk to join children who circle, sing ghost songs, and honor the harvest moon; through vivid color and seasonal imagery it explores transformation from humble harvest fruit to playful, fearsome-looking icon, highlighting communal ritual, the contrast between appearance and reality, and the affectionate, knowing trickery of childhood tradition.

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I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o’-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

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