During his lifetime, Sandburg was widely regarded as "a major figure in contemporary literature", especially for volumes of his collected verse, including Chicago Poems (1916), Cornhuskers (1918), and Smoke and Steel (1920).
Durante a súa vida, Sandburg foi recoñecido como "unha figura fundamental da literatura contemporánea", especialmente polos volumes das súas compilacións de versos, incluíndo Chicago Poems (1916), Cornhuskers (1918) e Smoke and Steel (1920).