Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay revised and illustrated edition |
 |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
JOHNNY APPLESEED'S HYMN TO THE SUN |
|
| 1. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 6. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 2. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
| 6. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 7. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 3. |
| 8. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 4. |
| 5. |
| 9. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 10. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
| 11. |
|
| 1. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
 | Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay |  |
JOHNNY APPLESEED'S HYMN TO THE SUN
Christ the dew in the clod,
Christ the sap of the trees,
Christ the light in the waterfall,
Christ the soul of the sun,
Innermost blood of the sun,
Grant I may touch the fringes
Of the outermost robe of the sun;
Let me store your rays till my ribs
Carry the breath of lightning,
Till my lips speak the fullness of thunder
To waken world-weary men:
Till my whisper engenders lions
Out of the desert weeds.
Christ the sap of the trees,
Christ the light in the waterfall,
Christ the soul of the sun,
Innermost blood of the sun,
Grant I may touch the fringes
Of the outermost robe of the sun;
Let me store your rays till my ribs
Carry the breath of lightning,
Till my lips speak the fullness of thunder
To waken world-weary men:
Till my whisper engenders lions
Out of the desert weeds.
liii
Give me your eyes, O sun,
To watch through the universe
Where other suns speed on,
Brothers, children of God,
Making the great deeps fair.
To watch through the universe
Where other suns speed on,
Brothers, children of God,
Making the great deeps fair.
Take me unto yourself.
My flesh is a sacrifice,
If only my soul may go
As a flame to the edge of the sky
Where the sin-born stars come forth
From the black strong chaos-sea,
From the infinite widths of widths of night.
My flesh is a sacrifice,
If only my soul may go
As a flame to the edge of the sky
Where the sin-born stars come forth
From the black strong chaos-sea,
From the infinite widths of widths of night.
Grant I may die in a star
As the chosen of God all die
Rising again in the dreams
Of sinning, star born men,
Destroying their sins forever.
As the chosen of God all die
Rising again in the dreams
Of sinning, star born men,
Destroying their sins forever.
Give me your hidden wings,
That I may go to the heights
Of the gold-built cliffs of heaven,
Where jungles in silence reign.
Where the streets, knee-deep in moss
And the mansions heavy with trees
With Cedars of Lebanon
With olive and orange and palm
Are silent but for the wind,
Empty, mysterious.
That I may go to the heights
Of the gold-built cliffs of heaven,
Where jungles in silence reign.
Where the streets, knee-deep in moss
And the mansions heavy with trees
With Cedars of Lebanon
With olive and orange and palm
Are silent but for the wind,
Empty, mysterious.
Give me your strength, O sun!
Give me your hidden wings,
Till I climb to the holiest place,
That highest plain of all,
With its glassy shallow pools,
That desert of level fear
Where three great thrones stand high
Hewn from three ancient mountains,
Blind thrones of a fair lost land.
You have left your thrones for the suns,
Great God, O Trinity,
With all your marvelous hosts,
Cherubim, seraphim.
You blaze in our eyes by day.
They gleam from the stars by night.
Give me your hidden wings,
Till I climb to the holiest place,
That highest plain of all,
liv
That desert of level fear
Where three great thrones stand high
Hewn from three ancient mountains,
Blind thrones of a fair lost land.
You have left your thrones for the suns,
Great God, O Trinity,
With all your marvelous hosts,
Cherubim, seraphim.
You blaze in our eyes by day.
They gleam from the stars by night.
Give us your life, O sun!
Body and blood of Christ,
Wafer of awful fire
Give us the contrite heart,
Take out the death from us.
Body and blood of Christ,
Wafer of awful fire
Give us the contrite heart,
Take out the death from us.
Either the dead are dead,
Or to-day is eternity,
Your face is eternity,
Your rays are our endless life.
You are girt with a golden girdle,
You are with all your crucified
Angels and saints and men
Who die under clouds in the stars:
You are bringing them back from the dead.
They breathe on my face as I pray.
Or to-day is eternity,
Your face is eternity,
Your rays are our endless life.
You are girt with a golden girdle,
You are with all your crucified
Angels and saints and men
Who die under clouds in the stars:
You are bringing them back from the dead.
They breathe on my face as I pray.
Give me your innermost life.
Come quickly, Alpha, Omega,
Our God, the beginning and end!
Come quickly, Alpha, Omega,
Our God, the beginning and end!
| Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay | |