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Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay

revised and illustrated edition
Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931)

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[section]
  
[dedication]
  
INVOCATION FOR “THE MAP OF THE UNIVERSE”
  
TO EVE, MAN'S DREAM OF WIFEHOOD AS DESCRIBED BY MILTON
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JOHNNY APPLESEED'S WIFE OF THE MIND
  
JOHNNY APPLESEED'S HYMN TO THE SUN
  
JOHNNY APPLESEED'S SHIP COMES IN
  
JOHNNY APPLESEED SPEAKS OF THE APPLEBLOSSOM AMARANTH THAT WILL COME TO THIS CITY
  
JOHNNY APPLESEED'S WIFE FROM THE PALACE OF EVE
  
JOHNNY APPLESEED SPEAKS OF GREAT CITIES IN THE FUTURE
  
HOW JOHNNY APPLESEED WALKED ALONE IN THE JUNGLES OF HEAVEN
  
PARVENU
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COLLECTED POEMS
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SECTION I NIGHTINGALES
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SECTION II ORATIONS, COLLEGE WAR-CRIES, AND OLYMPIC GAMES
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SECTION III LITANY OF THE HEROES
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SECTION IV VERSES OF AN ESPECIALLY INSCRIPTIONAL CHARACTER
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SECTION V MOON-POEMS
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SECTION VI INCENSE AND PRAISE, AND WHIM, AND GLORY
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SECTION VII RUNES OF THE ROAD
  
A Song in July
  
I WANT TO GO WANDERING
  
BY THE SPRING AT SUNSET
  
ON THE ROAD TO NOWHERE
  
THE BEGGAR'S VALENTINE
  
THE WOULD-BE MERMAN
  
HONOR AMONG SCAMPS
  
WHY I VOTED THE SOCIALIST TICKET
  
GALAHAD, KNIGHT WHO PERISHED
  
THE TRAP
  
THE GAMBLERS
  
IN THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH
  
STAR OF MY HEART
  
LOOK YOU, I'LL GO PRAY
  
A PRAYER TO ALL THE DEAD AMONG MINE OWN PEOPLE
  
AT MASS
  
THE DANDELION
  
THE CITY THAT WILL NOT REPENT
  
THE VOICE OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI
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THE GOLDEN WHALES OF CALIFORNIA
  
I WENT DOWN INTO THE DESERT
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POEMS SPEAKING OF BUDDHA, PRINCE SIDDARTHA
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I. With a Bouquet of Twelve Roses
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II. The Firemen's Ball
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Section One
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Section Two
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Section Three
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III. To Buddha
  
THE COMET OF PROPHECY
  
THE TRAMP'S REFUSAL
  
THE FLOWER OF MENDING
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SECTION VIII HOME TOWN
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SECTION IX POLITICS
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SECTION X SONGS BASED ON CARTOONS, BILL-BOARDS, AND AMERICAN HIEROGLYPHICS, AND MOTION-PICTURES
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SECTION XI A SONG BASED ON EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS:

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325

Section Three

In Which, contrary to Artistic Custom, the moral of the piece is placed before the reader.

[_]

(From the first Khandaka of the Mahavagga: “There Buddha thus addressed his disciples: ‘Everything, O mendicants, is burning. With what fire is it burning? I declare unto you it is burning with the fire of passion, with the fire of anger, with the fire of ignorance. It is burning with the anxieties of birth, decay and death, grief, lamentation, suffering and despair. ... A disciple, ... becoming weary of all that, divests himself of passion. By absence of passion he is made free.’”)

I once knew a teacher,

To be intoned after the manner of a priestly service.


Who turned from desire,
Who said to the young men
“Wine is a fire.”
Who said to the merchants:—
“Gold is a flame
That sears and tortures
If you play at the game.”
I once knew a teacher
Who turned from desire
Who said to the soldiers,
“Hate is a fire.”
Who said to the statesmen:—
“Power is a flame
That flays and blisters
If you play at the game.”
I once knew a teacher
Who turned from desire,
Who said to the lordly,
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“Pride is a fire.”
Who thus warned the revellers:—
“Life is a flame.
Be cold as the dew
Would you win at the game
With hearts like the stars,
With hearts like the stars.”

Interrupting very loudly for the last time.


So BEWARE,
So BEWARE,
So BEWARE OF THE FIRE.
Clear the streets,
Boom, BOOM,
Clear the streets,
Boom, BOOM,
Give THE ENGINES ROOM,
Give THE ENGINES ROOM,
Lest SOULS BE TRAPPED
In A TERRIBLE TOMB.
Says THE SWIFT WHITE HORSE
To THE SWIFT BLACK HORSE:—
“There GOES THE ALARM,
There GOES THE ALARM.
They ARE HITCHED, THEY ARE OFF,
They ARE GONE IN A FLASH,
And THEY STRAIN AT THE DRIVER'S IRON ARM.”
Clang ... A ... RANGA. ... Clang ... A ... RANGA. ...
Clang ... CLANG ... CLANG. ...
Clang ... A ... RANGA. ... Clang ... A ... RANGA. ...
Clang ... CLANG ... CLANG. ...
Clang ... A ... RANGA. ... Clang ... A ... RANGA. ...
Clang. ... CLANG ... CLANG. ...
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