Vachel Lindsay: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Article Images

Line 1:

~~Vachel was alive until the day he was not. That not make sense well you shouldn't look up info on wikepedia.~~

'''Nicholas Vachel Lindsay''' ([[November 10]], [[1879]] – [[December 5]], [[1931]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[poet]]. His exuberant recitation of some of his work led some critics to compare it to [[jazz poetry]] despite his persistent protests. Because of his use of American Midwest themes he also became known as the "[[Prairie]] [[troubadour|Troubador]]."

==Early years==

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]].

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:

It is portentous, and a thing of state<br>

That here at midnight, in our little town<br>

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. One day Vachel wrote home to his parents saying that he wasn't meant to be a doctor and that his true living should be that of a painter. His parents wrote back saying that doctors can draw pictures in their free time. 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. He said that the school tried to change him into a different kind of artist than what he really was and then in 1904 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 [[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==

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]].

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 — again on foot — from [[Illinois]] to [[New Mexico]], trading his poems for food and lodging. During this last trek, Lindsay composed his most famous poem, "The Congo". 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.

=="The Congo"==

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

===Novel use of sound===

"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:

''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)

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

===Alleged 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.

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).

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.

==Later years==

===Fame===

Lindsay's fame as a poet grew in the 1910s. Because [[Harriet Monroe]] showcased him with two other Illinois poets — [[Carl Sandburg]] and [[Edgar Lee Masters]] — 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'.

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 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 featured many disappointments, such as his unsuccessful courtship in 1914 of fellow poet [[Sara Teasdale]]; she married a rich businessman, [[Ernst Filsinger]]. While this itself may have caused Lindsay to become more concerned with money, his financial pressures increased even more later on.

In 1924 he moved to [[Spokane, Washington]], where he lived in room 1129 of the Davenport Hotel until 1929. On [[May 19]], [[1925]], he 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 (a substantial sum at the time).

After this tour, 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''.

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

===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!"

Today, the [[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]] helps to maintain 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 donated the home to the state which then closed it to restore the home costing $1.5 million. The site is now again open to the public giving full, guided tours for those who choose to ring the bell. The hours are Tues-Sat: 12-4:00pm. Lindsay's [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=630 grave] lies in [[Oak Ridge Cemetery]].

==Selected works==

* "[[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]]"

* "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" – ''see [[calliope (music)|calliope]] for references''

* "The Leaden-Eyed"

* "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==

==External links==

*[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"]

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

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

*[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] from ''Anthology of Modern American Poetry''

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

[[Category:American poets]]

[[Category:People with epilepsy]]

[[Category:Suicides by poison]]

[[Category:Writers who committed suicide]]

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

[[Category:Hiram College alumni]]

[[Category:1879 births]]

[[Category:1931 deaths]]

[[Category:Suicides in the United States]]

[[de:Nicholas Vachel Lindsay]]