Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

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.

The speaker is certain of a place better than the gloomy present. He describes it as a magical dwelling of soft white grass in the
swaying of a cool "peppermint wind". This captivating beauty, the speaker contrasts with the present situation "where the smoke
blows black" and the streets are dark. Though the pace and measure of walking to that magical place may be slow, solid directions
marked by the "Chalk-white" arrows lead the way. The children draw these lines and they know exactly "where the sidewalk ends".
The speaker encourages the reader to follow that path which ultimately leads to the magical place of wonder; it lies just beyond the
circumstance.

The poet begins with the description of a "place where the sidewalk ends". The mention of exact coordinates at the sidewalks
termination represents the speaker's real belief in the existence of such a place. The poet sees it as comprising certain almost magical
qualities, and offering even the moon-bird "rests from his flight". Such hopeful reminiscence characterizes the speaker as having
some sort of discontent with the present situation.

In the second stanza, the speaker's responds to that situation, pleading, "let us leave this place". Like any rational individual, he
wishes to escape his atmosphere of discontent to a place of better treatment and freedom. His "escapist" attitude relates well with the
result of uncertainty. The speaker acknowledges that it may not be so easy to get beyond the sidewalk, because the walk may be
"measured and slow"; however, the speaker is certain that he will meet the challenge with success, because definite "chalk-white"
arrows lead the way, giving him a sense of direction.

The poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein is a poem about a place where things are better than they are here. It's
where the sidewalk ends where Silverstein says that "And there the grass grows soft and white, / And there the sun glows crimson
bright" (3-4). In this place the sun is much brighter and the grass much softer and it seems to be a better place. Silverstein uses
words like "peppermint wind" to show the childlike glow that this imaginary place has (6). These words are setting the mood for our
imaginations to take over and think of an amazingly perfect place. Silverstein is trying to get us away from the "place where the
smoke blows black / And the dark street winds and bends" (7-8). He is saying that we should free our selves from the world full of
pollution and concrete and go to the beautiful place where the sidewalk ends.
The overall tone to this poem seems to be that we can be better off than we are if we just "go where the chalk white arrows go / for
the children, they mark, and the children, they know" (14-15) Silverstein is encouraging us to change here and is saying that we
need to have the innocence of children instead of being so corrupted. He is saying that if we could all believe in things like the
sidewalk coming to an end in a magical place we would stop with so much of our polluting and wastefulness. Silverstein seems to
want everyone to be kids.

Shel has always wrote poems about the power of imagination. Where the sidewalk ends signifies where reality ends as Kimberly
previously stated. In the first stanza he talks about various aspects of reality such as buildings, the asphalt flowers, and the place
where they end. In the last stanza he repeats this with saying the children know where it ends because imagination seems to fade
with age. Only children truly have an amazing imagination to be able to escape their troubles any time

In my opinion, where the sidewalk ends is where imagination begins and where reality ends. This is shown in the first stanza when it
talks about white grass and peppermint winds, these things are not real. You can Also see this when it says that the children know
where this place is, all kids use their imaginations. Overall, I believe what Shel Silverstein was trying to say was that everyone
should step back from real life once in awhile and be creative and use their imaginations no matter what your age.

This poem seems to be about a place where you can go and nothing bad can happen to you. All the troubles that you're running from
go away and you can focus on all the good. The children part was kind of confusing but I guess that is just that the purity and
innocence of the young is what makes this place so amazing. Where the sidewalk ends can be anywhere, a dream, a place where you
go and everything that you worry about just seems not to matter anymore and the corruption of anything that has happened to you
goes away. There is no judgement. It’s just a place to free of who you are.
1) In his poem, “Where the Sidewalk Ends”, Shel Silverstein uses many poetry terms. He uses echo in the last line of the second and
third stanza. It says, “to the place where the sidewalk ends” and repeats it at the end of the last stanza. This poem has no repeating
rhyme scheme. In one stanza it is a-a-b-c-c-d, the second stanza has an a-b-c-c-c-b rhyme scheme. The third stanza’s rhyme scheme
is a-a-a-b. The first stanza is an enjambment, which is a run on sentence in poetry. It is:
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.

The whole thing is one whole sentence. He also uses alliteration when he says grass grows. It is alliteration because he repeats the
first letter, “g”, in two times right after each other. He also uses homonym in the line, “We shall walk with a walk that is measured
and slow,” Walk and walk are homonyms because he uses walk the first time as a verb and the second time as a noun.

Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a poem which causes many reactions in your mind. The first stanza tells
about a place where the grass is soft and the sun burns bright and the birds rest. It is a happy place in which everything is calm. The
second stanza says that it is time to leave the place where the smoke is black and streets bend and asphalt flowers grow. It is time to
go in a slow walk and follow the white arrows to the place where the sidewalk ends. I think that he represents the city which is filled
with violence and hatred with black smoke. The color black represents something dirty or evil. Black smoke is usually pollution
which harms the environment. It can usually be found in cities where there are factories. I also think that Silverstein uses asphalt
flowers because flowers made out of asphalt are dead. They have no happiness. He wants us to leave the land with now happiness,
where our lives are filled with destruction and follow good, which in this poem is represented by white arrows. This place is a place
that only children know. Children’s innocence and lack of knowledge of what is going on in the world is what gives them their
happiness. They aren’t worried about whether the stock market is going to go down or the social security reform is going to pass or
who escaped from jail or the president’s plan on pollution. They enjoy every second of their lives without spending their days
worried or filled with violence. Silverstein means that we should be like children and forget all the problems in the world and just
enjoy our life.

“Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein & “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes, are similar poems in different ways.
Both poems have a message of hope. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” says that in the middle of all the violence in the world there is
hope and happiness. “I, Too, Sing America” has a message which says that after all the bad things that people go though in life and
after all the racism, they can still be happy. They both talk about the problems in the world and hatred that has driven people apart.
One of the poems focuses more on the fact that they will be happier times while the other one talks about how even though they are
treated different and inferior to others, they too can be happy and get over this. Both poems inspire people to be happy when there
are bad times.