Collected Poems: Revised and Illustrated Edition

by Vachel Lindsay

American poet born to a family of evangelical Disciples of Christ, Lindsay transferred his crusading spirit to converting Americans to a love of poetry. His poetry explored American subjects & heroes, with patriotism & a mystic faith in the earth & nature. Adventures While Preaching Hieroglyphic SermonsInvocation for The Map of the UniverseAdventures While Singing These SongsSection I-NightingalesSection II-Orations, College War-Cries & Olympic GamesSection III-Litany of the HeroesSection IV-Verses of an Especially Inscriptional CharacterSection V-Moon PoemsSection VI-Incense, & Praise, & Whim, & GlorySection VII-Runes of the RoadSection VIII-Home TownSection IX-PoliticsSection X-Songs Based on American Hieroglyphics, Cartoons & Motion PicturesSection XI-A Song Based on Egyptian Hieroglyphics

Genres: Poetry, Classics

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

Vachel Lindsay was an American poet responsible for pioneering modern singing poetry. His most famous work is "The Congo" which clearly exhibits his focus on sound in his poetry, using onomotopeia to imitate the pounding drums and chants of Congo's indigenous people.

Reviews

[Capri Lapacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson and Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Vachel Lindsay have many similarities and differences. One similarity is that both poems use rhyming, while they both have unique styles of writing. One similarity between the poems is that they both use rhyming. The poem Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Vachel Lindsay uses rhyming at the end of lines to help the poem flow better. The poem The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson also uses rhyming. He also uses rhyming at the end of each line to help the poem flow better. This shows how both poems use some sort of rhyme to bring the poem to life and make the poem flow. Even though these poems are about completely different things they still both incorporate rhyme into them. One difference between the two poems is that they use different styles of writing. In the poem, Abraham Lincoln Walks at Night the author uses the same form, ABCB, throughout the entire poem to write the poem. Lindsay uses the ABCB form to write the poem and keeps the same form throughout the entire poem. On the other hand, the other text, The Charge of the Light Brigade, uses a more free-form poem writing style. He uses different numbers of lines throughout the entire poem to form a more free verse poem style. These show how both poems are written in completely different ways. One is a free verse poem and the other has an ABCB poem. Overall, the two poems, The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson and Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Vachel Lindsay, are both similar and very different. Each poem has a unique style of writing and that makes them different. Just as they are different they are both similar because they both use rhyming to bring the poems to life.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars, but I don't recommend this book to the casual reader. Vachel Lindsay was a flamboyant, romantic crusader for poetry, a genius pursued by demons (epilepsy, mental illness) that eventually destroyed him. I wish somebody would make a movie of his life -- it's epic Hollywood material. He was the Johnny Appleseed of poetry, tramping by foot across America, begging for a meal and a night's sleep in exchange for reciting poems to the bewildered but openhearted farmers and blacksmiths and shopkeepers he encountered. Later, he became famous and could fill auditoriums with his dramatic recitals, which he called "high Vaudeville." Like most performance art, it doesn't leap from the page with the same energy as his recitals. It's like reading song lyrics -- the main ingredient is missing. For a few dollars you can download the only recordings made of Lindsay reciting, which give a suggestion of how he must have sounded in person. Listen, then read these and try reciting them aloud. Ham it up, wave your arms, dance. He did, and it was spellbinding.

The Voice of the Earthquake

But what is the earthquake's cry at last
Making St. Francis yet aghast:—
[From here on, the audience joins in the refrain:—gold, gold, gold.]
"Oh the flashing cornucopia of haughty California.
Is gold, gold, gold.
Their brittle speech and their clutching reach
Is gold, gold, gold.
What is the fire-engine's ding dong bell?
The burden of the burble of the bullfrog in the well?
Gold, gold, gold.
What is the color of the cup and plate
And knife and fork of the chief of state?
Gold, gold, gold.
What is the flavor of the Bartlett pear?
What is the savor of the salt sea air?
Gold, gold, gold.
What is the color of the sea-girl's hair?
Gold, gold, gold.
In the church of Jesus and the streets of Venus:—
Gold, gold, gold.
What color are the cradle and the bridal bed?
What color are the coffins of the great gray dead?
Gold, gold, gold.
What is the hue of the big whales' hide?
Gold, gold, gold.
What is the color of their guts' inside?
Gold, gold, gold.

"What is the color of the pumpkins in the moonlight?
Gold, gold, gold.
The color of the moth and the worm in the starlight?
Gold, gold, gold."

[Daniel Klawitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy of this book is actually a hardback edition released by Macmillan with a 1925 copyright. It's a lovely book...and while Lindsay's reputation seems to have faded over the years, he is an important American poet and a more accomplished one than Poe...It's a shame he isn't read more in public high schools.

Here is the first stanza from his poem, "Why I Voted The Socialist Ticket":

I am unjust, but I can strive for justice.
My life's unkind, but I can vote for kindness.
I, the unloving, say life should be lovely.
I, that am blind, cry out against my blindness.

[Stephen Glynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ended up liking a mere four of the many poems in this book, which I regretted buying. (I should have checked a copy out from the library.) Most were, well, boring (to me). My favorites were Alone in the Wind, on the Prairie, The Leaden-Eyed, I Went Down into the Desert, and a poem about writing poetry, An Apology for the Bottle Volcanic.

[Gringoire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every poem read was better than the last. Please read him.