Vachel Lindsay: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:58, 9 April 2007

Latest revision as of 12:03, 18 July 2025

(417 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{short description|American poet (1879–1931)}}

{{Cleanup|date=February 2007}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Vachel Lindsay

| image = Nicholas Vachel Lindsay 1913.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Lindsay in 1913

| pseudonym =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = November 10, 1879

| birth_place = [[Springfield, Illinois]], United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|1931|12|05|1879|11|10}}

| death_place = Springfield, Illinois, United States

| occupation = Poet

| nationality =

| ethnicity =

| citizenship =

| education =

| alma_mater =

| period =

| genre =

| subject =

| movement =

| notableworks =

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| relatives =

| awards =

| signature =

| website =

| portaldisp =

}}

'''Nicholas Vachel Lindsay''' ([[{{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|eɪ|tʃ|əl|_|ˈ|l|ɪ|n|z|i}}; November 10]], [[1879]] – [[December 5]], [[1931]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[poet]]. HisHe exuberantis recitationconsidered ofa somefounder of hismodern work''singing ledpoetry,'' someas criticshe referred to compare it, toin [[jazzwhich poetry]]verses despiteare hismeant persistentto protests.be sung Becauseor of his use of American Midwest themes he also became known as the "[[Prairie]] [[troubadour|Troubador]]chanted."

==Early years==

Lindsay was born in [[Springfield, Illinois]] where his father, Vachel Thomas Lindsay, worked as a medical doctor and had amassed considerable wealth. The Lindsays lived across the street from the [[Illinois Executive Mansion]], home of the [[Governor of Illinois]]. The ___location of his childhood home influenced Lindsay, and one of his poems, "[[s:The Eagle That Is Forgotten|The Eagle That Is Forgotten]]", eulogizes Illinois governor [[John P. Altgeld]], whom Lindsay admired for his courage in pardoning the [[anarchists]] involved in the [[Haymarket Affair]], despite the strong protests of [[President of United States|US President]] [[Grover Cleveland]].

Growing up in Springfield influenced Lindsay in other ways, as evidenced in such poems as "On the Building of Springfield" and culminating in poems praising Springfield's most famous resident, [[Abraham Lincoln]]. In "[[s:Lincoln (Lindsay)|Lincoln]]", Lindsay exclaims, "Would I might rouse the Lincoln in you all!" This line was later adopted as the official motto of the [[Association of Lincoln Presenters]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes-life-magazine/2003/0915/076.html|title=History Repeats Itself|work=[[Forbes]]|date=September 15, 2003|accessdate=April 20, 2022}}</ref> In his 1914 poem "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight (In Springfield, Illinois)", Lindsay specifically places Lincoln ''in'' Springfield, with the poem's opening:

Lindsay was born in [[Springfield, Illinois]], where his father — Vachel Thomas Lindsay — worked as a medical doctor and had considerable financial resources. As a result, the Lindsays lived next door to the [[Illinois Executive Mansion]], home of the [[Governor of Illinois]]. This ___location of his childhood home had its influence on Lindsay, and one of his poems, "The Eagle Forgotten", eulogizes Illinois governor [[John P. Altgeld]], whom Lindsay admired for his courage in pardoning the [[anarchists]] involved in the [[Haymarket Riot]] — despite the strong protests of [[President of the United States|US President]] [[Grover Cleveland]].

:It is portentous, and a thing of state

Growing up in Springfield influenced Lindsay in other ways as well, as evidenced in such poems as "On the Building of Springfield" and culminating in poems praising Springfield's most famous resident, [[Abraham Lincoln]]. In "The Ghosts of the Buffaloes", Lindsay exclaims "Would I might rouse the Lincoln in you all!" In his 1914 poem "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight (In Springfield, Illinois)", Lindsay specifically places Lincoln 'in' Springfield, with the poem opening:

:That here at midnight, in our little town

:A mourning figure walks, and will not rest...

Lindsay studied medicine at [[Ohio]]'s [[Hiram College]] from 1897 to 1900, but he did not want to be a doctor; his parents were pressuring him toward medicine. Once he wrote to them that he wasn't meant to be a doctor but a painter; they wrote back saying that doctors can draw pictures in their free time. He left Hiram anyway, heading to [[Chicago]] to study at the [[Art Institute of Chicago]] from 1900 to 1903. In 1904 he left to attend the New York School of Art (now [[The New School]]) to study pen and ink. Lindsay remained interested in art for the rest of his life, drawing illustrations for some of his poetry. His art studies also probably led him to appreciate the new art form of [[silent film]].<ref>{{cite journal|editor1-last=Solbert|editor1-first=Oscar N.|editor2-last=Newhall|editor2-first=Beaumont|editor3-last=Card|editor3-first=James G.|title=Vachel Lindsay on Film|journal=Image, Journal of Photography of George Eastman House|date=April 1953|volume=2|issue=4|pages=23–24|url=http://image.eastmanhouse.org/files/GEH_1953_02_04.pdf|access-date=26 June 2014|publisher=International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House Inc.|___location=Rochester, N.Y.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312201347/http://image.eastmanhouse.org/files/GEH_1953_02_04.pdf|archive-date=12 March 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> His 1915 book ''The Art of the Moving Picture'' is generally considered the first book of film criticism, according to critic [[Stanley Kauffmann]], discussing Lindsay in ''[[For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism]]''.

It is portentous, and a thing of state

That here at midnight, in our little town

A mourning figure walks, and will not rest...

Lindsay studied medicine at [[Hiram College]] in [[Ohio]] from 1897 to 1900, but he did not want to be a doctor. His parents pressured him toward medicine. He conspired with his sister, also a Hiram student, to get himself expelled. One evening, he was "caught" in his sister's dorm room. At that time, Hiram had very strict policies regarding gender segregation. Lindsay was promptly expelled.<ref>This story was related to the author by Dr. David Anderson, Hiram historian. I know nothing more about its veracity.</ref> Leaving Hiram, he thought he would become an artist, and went to [[Chicago]] to study at the [[Art Institute of Chicago]] from 1900 to 1903 and then in 1904 at the New York School of Art (now [[The New School]]). Lindsay remained interested in art for the rest of his life, drawing illustrations for some of his poetry. His art studies also probably led him to appreciate the new art form of [[film]], on which he wrote a book in 1915: 'The Art of the Moving Picture,' generally considered the first book of film criticism.

==Beginnings as a poet==

[[File:Vachel Lindsay 1912.jpg|thumb|left|Vachel Lindsay in 1912]]

While in New York in 1905 Lindsay turned to poetry in earnest. He tried to sell his poems on the streets. Self-printing his poems, he began to barter a pamphlet entitled 'Rhymes To Be Traded For Bread', which he traded for food as a self-perceived modern version of a medieval [[troubadour]].

While in New York in 1905 Lindsay turned to poetry in earnest. He tried to sell his poems on the streets. Self-printing his poems, he began to barter a pamphlet titled ''Rhymes To Be Traded For Bread'', which he traded for food as a self-perceived modern version of a medieval [[troubadour]].

From March to May, 1906, Lindsay traveled roughly 600 miles on foot from [[Jacksonville, Florida]], to [[Kentucky]], again trading his poetry for food and lodging. From April to May, 1908, Lindsay undertook another poetry-selling trek, walking from [[New York City]] to [[Hiram, Ohio]].

From May to September 1912 he travelled — againtraveled—again on foot — fromfoot—from [[Illinois]] to [[New Mexico]], trading his poems for food and lodging. During this last trek, Lindsay composed his most famous poem, "The Congo". Going through Kansas, he was supposedly so successful that "he had to send money home to keep his pockets empty".<ref>{{cite news |title=A modern troubadour |url=https://archive.org/stream/independen79v80newy#page/506/mode/1up |newspaper=The Independent |date=Dec 28, 1914 |access-date=July 28, 2012}}</ref> On his return, [[Harriet Monroe]] published in ''[[Poetry magazine]]'' first his poem "General William Booth Enters into Heaven" in 1913 and then "The Congo" in 1914. At this point, Lindsay became very well- known.

==Poetry as performance==

=="The Congo"==

{{originalOriginal research|date=September 2007}}

"The Congo", Lindsay's best-known poem, became controversial both for its groundbreaking use of sound and for the issues of [[racism]] it raises.

Unlike Lindsay's more purely intellectual contemporaries, the poet declaimed his works from the stage, complete with the extravagant gestures of a carnival barker and old time preacher, from the beginning declaring himself to be a product of what he termed 'Higher Vaudeville':

===Novel use of sound===

"I think that my first poetic impulse is for music; second a definite conception with the ring of the universe..." (Vachel Lindsay, Edgar Lee Masters 1935, p. 62) This is evidenced by the 1931 recording he made just before his suicide, his still-radical performances of 'The Mysterious Cat', 'The Flower-Fed Buffaloes' and parts of 'The Congo' exhibiting a fiery and furious, zany, at times incoherent delivery that appears to have owed more to jazz than poetry, though the highly religious Lindsay was always reluctant to align himself thus.

"The Congo" expressed a revolutionary aesthetic of sound for sound's sake. It imitates the pounding of the drums in the rhythms and the exemplification of drumming [[onomatopoeia]]. At parts, the poem ceases to use conventional words, relying just on sound alone:

Part of the success and great fame that Lindsay achieved—albeit briefly—was due to the singular manner in which he presented his poetry "fundamentally as a performance, as an aural and temporal experience...meant...to be chanted, whispered, belted out, sung, amplified by gesticulation and movement, and punctuated by shouts and whoops." [2]

Whirl ye the deadly voo-doo rattle,

Harry the uplands,

Steal all the cattle,

Rattle-rattle, rattle-rattle,

Bing.

Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, Boom... (lines 21-26)

{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:23em; max-width: 25%;" cellspacing="5"

The measured mix of sounds and rhythm laid the foundations for [[sound poetry]] later in the century.

| style="text-align: left;" |

Whirl ye the deadly voo-doo rattle, <br />

Harry the uplands, <br />

Steal all the cattle, <br />

Rattle-rattle, rattle-rattle, <br />

Bing. <br />

Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, Boom ... <br />

|-

| style="text-align: left;" | The Congo<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1021/1021-h/1021-h.htm#2H_4_0004 |title=The Congo and Other Poems, by Vachel Lindsay |publisher=Gutenberg.org |access-date=2015-03-10}}</ref>

|}

His best-known poem, "The Congo," exemplified his revolutionary aesthetic of sound for sound's sake. It imitates the pounding of the drums in the rhythms and in [[Onomatopœia|onomatopoeic]] nonsense words. At parts, the poem ceases to use conventional words when representing the chants of Congo's indigenous people, relying just on sound alone.

===Racist themes===

Lindsay's view of the Congo can potentially upset modern sensibilities. Many of Lindsay's contemporaries, such as [[W.E.B. DuBois]] among others, criticized "The Congo" for the [[stereotype]]s it raised.

Lindsay's extensive correspondence with the poet [[W. B. Yeats]] details his intentions of reviving the musical qualities of poetry as they were practiced by the ancient Greeks. Because of his identity as a [[performance artist]] and his use of American midwestern themes, Lindsay became known in the 1910s as the "[[Prairie]] [[Troubadour|Troubador]]."

The poem reflects the racism prevalent in the [[United States|United States of America]] at the turn of the 20th century, a racism pervasive even among those who — at least by the standards of the time — saw themselves as opposed to racism. That said, most white contemporaries viewed Lindsay as an advocate of blacks (See John Chapman Ward: "Vachel Lindsay Is 'Lying Low'", ''College Literature'' 12 (1985): 233-45).

In the final twenty years of his life, Lindsay was one of the best known poets in the U.S. His reputation enabled him to befriend, encourage and mentor other poets, such as [[Langston Hughes]] and [[Sara Teasdale]]. His poetry, though, lacked elements which encouraged the attention of academic [[scholarship]], and, after his death, he became an obscure figure.

Lindsay considered himself the "discoverer" of [[Langston Hughes]] after Hughes — then a [[busboy]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] — gave Lindsay copies of his poems when Lindsay ate at the restaurant where Hughes worked. Additionally, Lindsay wrote the 1918 poem "The Jazz Birds", praising the war efforts of [[African-American]]s during [[World War I]], an issue to which the vast majority of white America seemed blind.

==Attitudes towards race==

Whatever the language Lindsay uses in "The Congo", one can keep an open mind regarding a poet seen as progressive regarding race issues for his day and who, after all, idolized Lincoln. That said, it remains difficult to remain unaware of the bias — intended or not — in "The Congo". The poem from its onset presents stereotyping as it begins with the lines:

{{Original research|date=September 2007}}

Most contemporaries acknowledged Lindsay's intention to be an advocate for African-Americans.<ref name="Ward, John Chapman Ward 1985">Ward, John Chapman Ward: "Vachel Lindsay Is 'Lying Low'", ''College Literature'' 12 (1985): 233–45)</ref> This intention was particularly evident in the 1918 poem "The Jazz Birds", praising the war efforts of [[African-American]]s during [[World War I]], an issue to which the vast majority of the white US seemed blind. Additionally, [[W.E.B. Du Bois]] hailed Lindsay's story "The Golden-Faced People" for its insights into racism. Lindsay saw himself as anti-racist not only in his own writing but in his encouragement of a writer he credited himself with discovering: [[Langston Hughes]], who, while working as a busboy at a [[Washington, D.C.]] restaurant where Lindsay ate, gave Lindsay copies of his poems.<ref name="Ward, John Chapman Ward 1985"/>

However, many contemporaries and later critics have contended over whether a couple of Lindsay's poems should be seen as homages to African and African-American music, as perpetuation of the "savage African" stereotype, or as both. DuBois, before reading and praising "the Golden-Faced People," wrote in a review of Lindsay's "Booker T. Washington Trilogy" that "Lindsay knows two things, and two things only, about Negroes: The beautiful rhythm of their music and the ugly side of their drunkards and outcasts. From this poverty of material he tries now and then to make a contribution to Negro literature. ... It goes without saying that he only partially succeeds." Added DuBois: "Mr. Lindsay knows little of the Negro, and that little is dangerous."<ref>The Crisis, Aug. 1916</ref> DuBois also criticized "The Congo," which has been the most persistent focus of the criticisms of racial stereotyping in Lindsay's work.

Fat black bucks in a wine-barrel room,

Barrel-house kings, with feet unstable...

Subtitled "A Study of the Negro Race" and beginning with a section titled "Their Basic Savagery", "The Congo" reflects the tensions within a relatively isolated and pastoral society suddenly confronted by the industrialized world. The poem was inspired by a sermon preached in October 1913 that detailed the drowning of a missionary in the [[Congo River]]; this event had drawn worldwide criticism, as had the colonial exploitation of the Congo under the government of [[Leopold II of Belgium]]. Lindsay defended the poem; in a letter to [[Joel Elias Spingarn|Joel Spingarn]], chairman of the board of directors of the [[NAACP]], Lindsay wrote that "My 'Congo' and 'Booker T. Washington Trilogy' have both been denounced by the Colored people for reasons that I cannot fathom.... The third section of 'The Congo' is certainly as hopeful as any human being dare to be in regard to any race." Spingarn responded by acknowledging Lindsay's good intentions, but saying that Lindsay sometimes glamorized differences between people of African descent and people of other races, while many African-Americans wished to emphasize the "feelings and desires" that they held in common with others.<ref name="illinois1">{{cite web|url=http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/lindsay/congo.htm |title=Race Criticism of "The Congo" |publisher=English.illinois.edu |access-date=2015-03-10}}</ref>

Whatever justification one can give Lindsay, these lines have clear racist overtones. The reference to people as "black [[buck]]s" had pejorative connotations at the time Lindsay wrote it. At least to the white American readership of the 1910s, this term — distressing as it appears [[as of 2006|today]] — expressed less offense (or at least occurred more commonly) in 1914 than today. However, Lindsay did not intend the phrase as positive or even neutral. He used the words derisively so in order to seduce a white, Christian readership into a state of patronizing complacency about this African un-Christian scene, only to jolt them into re-appraisal of the scene that they had so comfortably disdained:

Similarly, critics in academia often portray Lindsay as a well-meaning but misguided [[primitivism|primitivist]] in his representations of Africans and African Americans. One such critic, [[Rachel DuPlessis]], argues that the poem, while perhaps meant to be "hopeful," actually "others" Africans as an inherently violent race. In the poem and in Lindsay's defenses of it, DuPlessis hears Lindsay warning white readers not to be "hoo-doo'd" or seduced by violent African "mumbo jumbo." This warning seems to suggest that white civilization has been "infected" by African violence; Lindsay thus, in effect, "blames blacks for white violence directed against them."<ref name="illinois1"/> Conversely, [[Susan Gubar]] notes approvingly that "the poem contains lines blaming black violence on white imperialism." While acknowledging that the poem seems to have given its author and audiences an excuse to indulge in "'[[romantic racism]]' or 'slumming in slang,'" she also observes that Lindsay was "much more liberal than many of his poetic contemporaries," and that he seems to have intended a statement against the kind of racist violence perpetrated under Leopold in the Congo.<ref name="illinois1"/>

Then I had religion, Then I had a vision.

I could not turn from their revel in derision. (lines 10-11)

==Later years==

This poem actually revels in the occult power of the drumming mix of sound and ceremony.

"The Congo" continues to resonate for later readers. For example, the 1989 film ''[[Dead Poets Society]]'' features recitation of "The Congo".

==Later years==

===Fame===

Lindsay's fame as a poet grew in the 1910s. Because [[Harriet Monroe]] showcased him with two other Illinois poets — poets—[[Carl Sandburg]] and [[Edgar Lee Masters]] — his—his name became linked to theirs. The success of either of the other two, in turn, seemed to help the third.

[[Edgar Lee Masters]] published a biography of Lindsay in 1935 (four years after its subject's death) entitled 'Vachel Lindsay: A Poet in America'.

In 1932, [[Edgar Lee Masters]] published an article on modern poetry in [[The American Mercury]] that praised Lindsay extensively<ref>"The Poetry Revival of 1914," The American Mercury, July 1932, at pp. 272–80.</ref> and wrote a biography of Lindsay in 1935 (four years after its subject's death) entitled ''Vachel Lindsay: A Poet in America''.

Lindsay himself indicated in the 1915 preface to "The Congo" that no less a figure than [[William Butler Yeats]] respected his work. Yeats felt they shared a concern for capturing the sound of the primitive and of singing in poetry. In 1915, Lindsay gave a poetry reading to President [[Woodrow Wilson]] and the entire [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]].

Lindsay himself indicated in the 1915 preface to "The Congo" that no less a figure than [[William Butler Yeats]] respected his work. Yeats felt they shared a concern for capturing the sound of the primitive and of singing in poetry. In 1915, Lindsay gave a [[poetry reading]] to President [[Woodrow Wilson]] and the entire [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]].{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Lindsay was well known throughout the nation, and especially in Illinois, because of his travels which were sometimes recorded in the front page of every newspaper.

===Marriage, children and financial troubles===

Despite his fame, Lindsay's private life featuredwas manyrife with disappointments, such as his unsuccessful courtship in 1914 of fellow poet [[Sara Teasdale]], whobefore choseshe amarried rich businessman — Ernst Filsinger — instead of him. While this itself may have caused Lindsay to become more concerned with money, his financial pressures increasedwould evengreatly moreincrease later on.

In 1924 he moved to [[Spokane, Washington]], where he lived in room 1129 of [[The Davenport Hotel (Spokane, Washington)|the Davenport Hotel]] until 1929.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pettit |first1=Stefanie |title=Hotel plaque honors poet |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/oct/15/hotel-plaque-honors-poet/ |website=The Spokesman-Review |access-date=July 31, 2022 |date=October 15, 2009}}</ref> On May 19, 1925, at age 45, he married 23-year-old Elizabeth Connor. The new pressure to support his considerably younger wife escalated when they had a daughter, Susan Doniphan Lindsay, in May 1926 (wife of [[John Russell, 4th Earl Russell|Lord Amberley]]) and son [[Nicholas Cave Lindsay]] in September 1927.

After moving to [[Spokane, Washington]] in 1924, Lindsay met and then — on [[May 19]], [[1925]] — married the 23-year-old Elizabeth Connor. The 45-year-old poet now found himself under great economic pressure as the husband of a considerably younger wife. These financial worries escalated even more when in May 1926 the Lindsays had a daughter — Susan Doniphan Lindsay — and in September 1927 a son — Nicholas Cave Lindsay.

Desperate for money to meet the growing demands of his growing family, Lindsay undertook an exhausting string of readings throughout the [[Eastern United States|East]] and [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] that lasted from October 1928 through March 1929. During this time, ''[[Poetry magazine]]'' awarded him a lifetime achievement award of $500 (aequivalent substantialto sumabout at${{Inflation|US|500|1929}} thein timetoday's dollars). In April 1929, Lindsay and his family moved to the house of his birth in Springfield, Illinois, an expensive undertaking. In that same year, coinciding with the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929]], Lindsay published two more poetry volumes: ''The Litany of Washington Street'' and ''Every Soul A Circus''. He gained money by doing odd jobs throughout but in general earned very little during his travels.

===Suicide===

On his return, in April 1929, Lindsay and his family moved to the house of his birth in [[Springfield, Illinois]]: an expensive undertaking. In that same year, and coinciding with the [[Stock Market Crash of 1929]], Lindsay published two more books of poems 'The Litany of Washington Street' and 'Every Soul A Circus'.

Crushed by financial worry and in failing health from his six-month road trip, Lindsay sank into [[depression (mood)|depression]]. On December 5, 1931, he committed suicide by drinking a bottle of [[lye]]. His last words were: "They tried to get me; I got them first!"<ref>{{cite book |last=Masters |first=Edgar Lee |year=1935 |title=Vachel Lindsay : A Poet in America |page=361|publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers |isbn=978-0819602398}}</ref>

===Legacy===

He gained money by doing odd jobs throughout but in general earned very little during his travels.

====Literary====

Lindsay, a versatile and prolific writer and poet, helped to "keep alive the appreciation of poetry as a [[Spoken word|spoken]] art" <ref>Reading list "Biography, Vachel Lindsay" Poetry Foundation.org, Chicago 2015</ref> whose poetry was said to "abound in meter and rhymes and is no shredded prose",<ref>Howells, William Dean ''Harpers'' Magazine, Sept. 1915</ref> had a traditional verse structure<ref>"Biography of Vachel Lindsay" Poetry Foundation.org, Chicago 2015</ref> and was described by a contemporary in 1924 as "pungent phrases, clinging cadences, dramatic energy, comic thrust, lyric seriousness and tragic intensity".<ref>Van Doren, Carl ''Many Minds'' Knopf, New York 1924</ref> Lindsay's biographer, Dennis Camp, says that Lindsay's ideas on "civic beauty and civic tolerance" were published in 1912 in his broadside "The Gospel of Beauty" and that later, in 1915, Lindsay published the first American study of [[film]] as an art form, ''The Art of The Moving Picture''. Camp notes that on Lindsay's tombstone is recorded a single word, "Poet".<ref>Camp, Dennis Dr. "Biography in Brief". Vachel Lindsay Association (est 1946), Springfield, IL</ref>

===Suicide===

Crushed by financial worry, in failing health from his six-month road trip, and sunk into [[depression (mood)|depression]], on [[December 5]], [[1931]], Lindsay committed suicide by drinking a bottle of [[Lysol]]. His last words were, "They tried to get me - I got them first!"

====Vachel Lindsay House====

The [[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]] helps to maintain the [[Vachel Lindsay House]] at 603 South Fifth Street in Springfield, the site of Lindsay's birth and death. The agency donated the house to the state, which then closed it for restoration at a cost of $1.5 million. As of October 8, 2014, the site was again open to the public, with guided tours available on Thursday to Sunday from 1 to 5 pm. Lindsay's grave<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JPcokTKlzC0C&q=vachel+lindsay+cemetery&pg=PA117|title=Oak Ridge Cemetery|first1=Edward J.|last1=Russo|first2=Curtis R.|last2=Mann|year=2009|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738577234|access-date=Jul 24, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> lies in [[Oak Ridge Cemetery]]. The bridge crossing the midpoint of [[Lake Springfield]], built in 1934, is named in Lindsay's honor.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083256/http://historiccommissions.springfield.il.us/VachelLindsayBridge.asp] </ref>

====Archives====

Today, the [[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]] maintains the [http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/vachel_lindsay.htm '''Vachel Lindsay Home'''] at 603 South Fifth Street in Springfield, the site of Lindsay's birth and death. The Agency has opened the home to the public. Lindsay's [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=630 grave] lies in [[Oak Ridge Cemetery]].

The Vachel Lindsay Archive resides at the [[Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library]] at the [[University of Virginia]]. It comprises his personal papers, manuscripts of his works, correspondence, photographs, artworks, printing blocks, books from his personal library, and a comprehensive collection of books by and about Lindsay.

The Archives and Special Collections at [[Amherst College]] holds a small collection of manuscripts and other items sent by Lindsay to Eugenia Graham.

==Selected works==

* ''The Daniel Jazz and Other Poems'' (1920)

* ''[[Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight]]''

* ''An Indian Summer Day on the Prairie''

* ''A Rhyme About an Electrical Advertising Sign''

* ''A Sense of Humor''

* ''[[Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan]]''

* ''[[s:The Dandelion|The Dandelion]]''

* ''Drying Their Wings''

* ''Euclid''

* ''Factory Windows are Always Broken''

* ''The Flower-Fed [[American Bison|Buffaloes]]''

* ''[[s:General William Booth enters into Heaven|General William Booth Enters Into Heaven]]''{{spnd}}the American composer [[Charles Ives]] wrote music to this poem (with minor text alterations) shortly after its publication

* ''In Praise of [[Johnny Appleseed]]''

* ''The Kallyope Yell''{{spnd}}see [[Calliope (music)#Pronunciation|Calliope]] for additional information

* ''The Leaden-Eyed''

* ''Love and Law''

* ''The Mouse That Gnawed the Oak Tree Down''

* ''The North Star Whispers to the Blacksmith's Son''

* ''On the Garden Wall''

* ''The Prairie Battlements''

* ''[[The Golden Book of Springfield]]''

* ''Prologue to 'Rhymes to be Traded for Bread''{{'}}

* ''[[s:The Congo (Lindsay)|The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race]]''

* ''[[s:The Eagle that is Forgotten|The Eagle That is Forgotten]]''

* ''The Firemen's Ball''

* ''The Rose of Midnight''

* ''This Section is a Christmas Tree''

* ''To Gloriana''

* ''What [[Semiramis]] Said''

* ''What the Ghost of the Gambler Said''

* ''[[s:Why I voted the Socialist ticket|Why I Voted the Socialist Ticket]]''

* ''Written for a Musician''

== Other ==

* "[[Abraham Lincoln]] Walks at Midnight"

* The poem ''The Congo'' is quoted in the 1989 American film ''[[Dead Poets Society]]''.

* "An Indian Summer Day on the Prairie"

* "A Rhyme About an Electrical Advertising Sign"

==References and notes==

* "A Sense of Humor"

{{Reflist}}

* "[[Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan]]"

* "The [[Dandelion]]"

* "Drying Their Wings"

* "[[Euclid]]"

* "Factory Windows are Always Broken"

* "The Flower-Fed [[American Bison|Buffalo]]es"

* "General [[William Booth]] Enters Into Heaven"

* "In Praise of [[Johnny Appleseed]]"

* "The Kallyope Yell" &ndash; ''see [[calliope (music)|calliope]] for references''

* "Love and Law"

* "The North Star Whispers to the Blacksmith's Son"

* "On the Garden Wall"

* "The Prairie Battlements"

* "Prologue to "Rhymes to be Traded for Bread" "

* "The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race"

* "The Eagle That is Forgotten"

* "The Firemen's Ball"

* "The Rose of Midnight"

* "This Section is a Christmas Tree"

* "To Gloriana"

* "What [[Semiramis]] Said"

* "What the Ghost of the Gambler Said"

* "Written for a Musician"

==Notes==

{{Unreferenced|date=February 2007}}

<references/>

==External links==

{{commons category}}

*[http://www.bartleby.com/271/34.html "The Chinese Nightingale"]

{{wikiquote}}

*[http://emotional-literacy-education.com/classic-books-online-b/cngop10.htm "The Congo and Other Poems by Vachel Lindsay"]

* [http://www.vachellindsay.org Vachel Lindsay Association website – biography, essays, works]

*{{gutenberg author|id=Vachel_Lindsay|name=Vachel Lindsay}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/19970607204639/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/lindsay.html Profile of Vachel Linsay] from [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]'s ''"I Hear America Singing"'' program, hosted by [[Thomas Hampson (baritone)|Thomas Hampson]]

*[http://www.english.uiuc.edu/MAPS/poets/g_l/lindsay/lindsay.htm "Modern American Poetry: Vachel Lindsay"]

* [https://archivesspace.amherst.edu/repositories/2/resources/133 Vachel Lindsay Collection] and [https://archivesspace.amherst.edu/repositories/2/resources/259 Lawrence H. Conrad Collection of Vachel Lindsay and Robert Frost Material] at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections

*[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/poet/lindsay.html Profile of Vachel Linsay] from [[PBS]]'s ''"I Hear America Singing"'' program, hosted by [[Thomas Hampson]]

* [http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/lindsay/lindsay.htm Entry on Vachel Lindsay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219150144/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/lindsay/lindsay.htm |date=2008-12-19 }} from ''Anthology of Modern American Poetry''

* {{Gutenberg author | id=234 }}

*[[Librivox]] audio recordings of [http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?title=&author=vachel+lindsay&status=all&action=Search Vachel Lindsay works]

* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Vachel Lindsay}}

* {{Librivox author |id=2123}}

* [http://www.bartleby.com/271/34.html "The Chinese Nightingale"]

* [http://emotional-literacy-education.com/classic-books-online-b/cngop10.htm "The Congo and Other Poems by Vachel Lindsay"]

* {{LCAuth|n79148281|Vachel Lindsay|80|}}

* [http://hrc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15878coll52#nav_top Vachel Lindsay Collection – Harry Ransom Center Digital Collections]

* {{cite web|title=Vachel Lindsay, recorded in January of 1931|website=The Speech Lab Recordings, edited by Chris Mustazza; PennSound (upenn.eud)|url=https://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Speech-Lab-Recordings.php#Lindsay}} (online audio from recordings made by [[W. Cabell Greet]] and George W. Hibbitt)

* [[hdl:10079/fa/beinecke.lindsay|Vachel Lindsay Collection]]. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Vachel}}

[[Category:1879 births]]

[[Category:American1931 poetssuicides]]

[[Category:American humorous poets]]

[[Category:American male poets]]

[[Category:20th-century American poets]]

[[Category:Writers from Springfield, Illinois]]

[[Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni]]

[[Category:Hiram College alumni]]

[[Category:People with epilepsy]]

[[Category:Suicides by poison]]

[[Category:WritersSuicides whoin committed suicideIllinois]]

[[Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni]]

[[Category:Hiram College alumni]]

[[Category:1879 births]]

[[Category:1931 deaths]]

[[de:Nicholas Vachel Lindsay]]