Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay revised and illustrated edition |
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 | Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay |  |
IV
This is the tale of the Tiger Tree
A hundred times the height of a man,
Lord of the race since the world began.
A hundred times the height of a man,
Lord of the race since the world began.
We marched to the mammoths,
We pledged them our steel,
And scorning you, sang:—
“We are men,
We are men.”
We mounted their necks,
And they stamped a wide reel.
We sang:
“We are fighting the hell-cats again,
We are mound-builder men,
We are elephant men.”
We left you there, lonely,
Beauty your power,
Wisdom your watchman,
To hold the clay tower.
While the black-mammoths boomed—
“You are elephant men,
Men,
Men,
Elephant men.”
The dawn-winds prophesied battles untold.
While the Tiger Trees roared of the glories of old,
Of the masterful spirits and hard.
We pledged them our steel,
And scorning you, sang:—
“We are men,
We are men.”
We mounted their necks,
And they stamped a wide reel.
We sang:
“We are fighting the hell-cats again,
We are mound-builder men,
We are elephant men.”
We left you there, lonely,
364
Wisdom your watchman,
To hold the clay tower.
While the black-mammoths boomed—
“You are elephant men,
Men,
Men,
Elephant men.”
The dawn-winds prophesied battles untold.
While the Tiger Trees roared of the glories of old,
Of the masterful spirits and hard.
The drunken cats came in their joy
In the sunrise, a glittering wave.
“We are tigers, are tigers,” they yowled.
“Down,
Down,
Go the swine to the grave.”
But we tramp
Tramp
Trampled them there,
Then charged with our sabres and spears.
The swish of the sabre,
The swish of the sabre,
Was a marvellous tune in our ears.
We yelled “We are men,
We are men.”
As we bled to death in the sun. ...
Then staunched our horrible wounds
With the cry that the battle was won. ...
And at last,
When the black-mammoth legion
Split the night with their song:—
“Right is braver than wrong,
Right is stronger than wrong,”
The buzzards came taunting:
“Down from the north
Tiger-nations are sweeping along.”
In the sunrise, a glittering wave.
“We are tigers, are tigers,” they yowled.
“Down,
Down,
Go the swine to the grave.”
But we tramp
Tramp
Trampled them there,
Then charged with our sabres and spears.
The swish of the sabre,
The swish of the sabre,
Was a marvellous tune in our ears.
We yelled “We are men,
We are men.”
As we bled to death in the sun. ...
Then staunched our horrible wounds
With the cry that the battle was won. ...
And at last,
When the black-mammoth legion
Split the night with their song:—
“Right is braver than wrong,
Right is stronger than wrong,”
365
“Down from the north
Tiger-nations are sweeping along.”
Then we ate of the ravening Leaf
As our savage fathers of old.
No longer our wounds made us weak,
No longer our pulses were cold.
Though half of my troops were afoot
(For the great who had borne them were slain),
We dreamed we were tigers, and leaped
And foamed with that vision insane.
We cried, “We are soldiers of doom,
Doom,
Sabres of glory and doom.”
We wreathed the king of the mammoths
In the tiger-leaves' terrible bloom.
We flattered the king of the mammoths,
Loud-rattling sabres and spears.
The swish of the sabre,
The swish of the sabre,
Was a marvellous tune in his ears.
As our savage fathers of old.
No longer our wounds made us weak,
No longer our pulses were cold.
Though half of my troops were afoot
(For the great who had borne them were slain),
We dreamed we were tigers, and leaped
And foamed with that vision insane.
We cried, “We are soldiers of doom,
Doom,
Sabres of glory and doom.”
We wreathed the king of the mammoths
In the tiger-leaves' terrible bloom.
We flattered the king of the mammoths,
Loud-rattling sabres and spears.
The swish of the sabre,
The swish of the sabre,
Was a marvellous tune in his ears.
| Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay | |