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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
  
THE STORM-FLOWER
  
HERE'S TO THE SPIRIT OF FIRE
  
BEING THE DEDICATION OF A MORNING
  
THE KNIGHT IN DISGUISE
  
THE WIZARD IN THE STREET
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THREE POEMS ABOUT MARK TWAIN
  
THE LION
  
AN EXPLANATION OF THE GRASSHOPPER
  
THE DANGEROUS LITTLE BOY FAIRIES
  
THE MOUSE THAT GNAWED THE OAK-TREE DOWN
  
THE SONG OF THE GARDEN-TOAD
  
FACTORY WINDOWS ARE ALWAYS BROKEN
  
IN PRAISE OF SONGS THAT DIE
  
TO EVE, MAN'S DREAM OF WIFEHOOD AS DESCRIBED BY MILTON
  
EDEN IN WINTER
  
GENESIS
  
THE PERFECT MARRIAGE
  
DARLING DAUGHTER OF BABYLON
  
LIFE TRANSCENDENT
  
WITH A ROSE, TO BRUNHILDE
  
SUNSHINE
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TWO EASTER STANZAS
  
ALONE IN THE WIND, ON THE PRAIRIE
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THIS SECTION IS A CHRISTMAS TREE
  
TO A GOLDEN-HAIRED GIRL IN A LOUISIANA TOWN
  
KALAMAZOO
  
THE CELESTIAL CIRCUS
  
HARPS IN HEAVEN
  
A KIND OF SCORN
  
MY LADY IS COMPARED TO A YOUNG TREE
  
IN MEMORY OF A CHILD
  
THE DRUNKARDS IN THE STREET
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SECTION VII RUNES OF THE ROAD
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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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THE EMPTY BOATS

Why do I see these empty boats, sailing on airy seas?
One haunted me the whole night long, swaying with every breeze,
Returning always near the eaves, or by the skylight glass:
There it will wait me many weeks, and then, at last, will pass.
Each soul is haunted by a ship in which that soul might ride
And climb the glorious mysteries of Heaven's silent tide
In voyages that change the very metes and bounds of Fate—
O empty boats, we all refuse, that by our windows wait!
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