Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay :: :: University of Virginia Library

Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay

revised and illustrated edition

Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931)

[section]

[dedication]

INVOCATION FOR “THE MAP OF THE UNIVERSE”

TO EVE, MAN'S DREAM OF WIFEHOOD AS DESCRIBED BY MILTON

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

COLLECTED POEMS

SECTION I NIGHTINGALES

SECTION II ORATIONS, COLLEGE WAR-CRIES, AND OLYMPIC GAMES

SECTION III LITANY OF THE HEROES

SECTION IV VERSES OF AN ESPECIALLY INSCRIPTIONAL CHARACTER

SECTION V MOON-POEMS

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

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

TWO EASTER STANZAS

ALONE IN THE WIND, ON THE PRAIRIE

THIS SECTION IS A CHRISTMAS TREE

TO A GOLDEN-HAIRED GIRL IN A LOUISIANA TOWN

MY LADY IS COMPARED TO A YOUNG TREE

IN MEMORY OF A CHILD

THE DRUNKARDS IN THE STREET

SECTION VII RUNES OF THE ROAD

SECTION VIII HOME TOWN

SECTION IX POLITICS

10.

SECTION X SONGS BASED ON CARTOONS, BILL-BOARDS, AND AMERICAN HIEROGLYPHICS, AND MOTION-PICTURES

11.

SECTION XI A SONG BASED ON EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS:

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385

THE MERCIFUL HAND

(Written to Miss Alice L. F. Fitzgerald, Edith Cavell memorial nurse, going to the front)

Your fine white hand is Heaven's gift
To cure the wide world, stricken sore,
Bleeding at the breast and head,
Tearing at its wounds once more.

Your white hand is a prophecy,
A living hope that Christ shall come
And make the nations merciful,
Hating the bayonet and drum.

Each desperate burning brain you soothe,
Or ghastly broken frame you bind,
Brings one day nearer our bright goal,
The love-alliance of mankind.

Wellesley, February, 1916.