There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
When I was little I got Shel Silverstein’s book as a gift and my favorite poem in it was "Where the Sidewalk Ends". I think it was mainly my favorite because that’s what the book was called, but I remember liking the poem a lot too.
I like the rhyme-scheme and the way he words his sentences. The sidewalk can be seen as a path that can get someone through a rough time in their life. To me, this poem seems like it was written from a child’s point-of-view. He talks about leaving a place filled with pollution, “where the smoke blows black” and where there are “dark street winds” to where the grass is soft and the sun shines much brighter. Silverstein makes everything sound better than it really is and emphasizes that we think too much and then as a result, complicate things. If we could all imagine the good or positive side of things, like the place at the end of the sidewalk (like children do), then everything would be better.
I like the rhyme-scheme and the way he words his sentences. The sidewalk can be seen as a path that can get someone through a rough time in their life. To me, this poem seems like it was written from a child’s point-of-view. He talks about leaving a place filled with pollution, “where the smoke blows black” and where there are “dark street winds” to where the grass is soft and the sun shines much brighter. Silverstein makes everything sound better than it really is and emphasizes that we think too much and then as a result, complicate things. If we could all imagine the good or positive side of things, like the place at the end of the sidewalk (like children do), then everything would be better.
This poem was one of my favorites when I was a child too. I like that you pointed out that the poem seems to be written from a child's point of view because that is one of the first things that I noticed when I read this poem. As a child I always liked reading poems that showed people overcoming obstacles or had the 'sunshine after the rain' good feeling to them, and I think that this poem has that. It says "we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow" showing that they may have hardships but there is happiness at the end of their story and that is a very good point that should be shown to all children.
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