Where the Sidewalk Ends (poem)

Where the Sidewalk Ends is a 1974 poem by Shel Silverstein, and the title poem of the collection of the same name. Both the poem and the book gained instant fame and were deemed classics of children's literature.
General analysis
There have been several analyses and interpretations of Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends, but among them all, a general conclusion has been drawn. Silverstein is famous for being a children's poet, yet many of the ideas tucked in the corner of Where the Sidewalk Ends are made for adults. Silverstein argues that adults live in a world that is dreary, and that children live in a world full of life and joy. Silverstein is saying that adults need to go to the place that children know; essentially telling adults to take a step back and to take on the point of view of a child to find the life and joy that they have.
Silverstein begins the poem by describing the place where the sidewalk ends. This place that is only encountered by the imagination. As he mentions the grass growing "soft and white" and also the "cooling of the peppermint wind," we know that this is a mental state, how someone views the world. Finding the place where the sidewalk ends may not as much be about finding an actual place rather than reaching a certain mental state.
As Silverstein writes in the second stanza, saying " Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black And the dark street winds and bends" He is referencing the world that adults live in, the one that is far from what he described as the place where the sidewalk ends. Yes, this could be taken literally, as adults live and work in urban settings. But just as he has done previously, this description is referring to a state of mind. One that sees the world for everything bad that it possibly possesses, a mindset that is totally lacking in any sort of imagination.
Silverstein has also written several collections of poetry similar to the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends. Those include A Light in the Attic, Falling Up and The Missing Piece.
Whatif, Hug O War, Bear in There, and Ticklish Tom are among Silverstein's other most famous poems.
Poets similar to Silverstein include Dr. Seuss, Eloise Greenfield and Robert Louis Stevenson.

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