Cuándo y cómo vincularlos:
Have students read this poem, after finishing the novel, in order to facilitate an understanding of the power and function of language. In The Book Thief, Frau Hermann gives Liesel a diary, the one which Death carries. Sandburg’s poem carries a message on how short life is when compared to language. Have students’ compare the messages about language in the poem and the novel. The poem discusses language as ever-changing and having an unsustainable nature, but it outlasts humans — as do Liesel’s words in the instance of the novel’s plot. In contrast, language connects people in the novel, while in the poem language is presented as intangible. What are the differences in the way that the power of language is depicted in both texts? How does language bring people together? How does language outlast people?