Vachel Lindsay

The Congo and Other Poems (Dodo Press) Vachel Lindsay

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) was an American poet. His exuberant recitation of some of his work led some critics to compare it to jazz poetry despite his persistent protests. Because of his use of American Midwest themes he also became known as the "Prairie Troubador". The Lindsays lived next door to the Illinois Executive Mansion, home of the Governor of Illinois. This location of his childhood home had its influence on Lindsay, and one of his poems, "The Eagle Forgotten", eulogizes Illinois governor John P. Altgeld, whom Lindsay admired for his courage in pardoning the anarchists involved in the Haymarket Riot - despite the strong protests of US President Grover Cleveland. Growing up in Springfield influenced Lindsay in other ways as well, as evidenced in such poems as "On the Building of Springfield" and culminating in poems praising Springfield's most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln. Amongst his other works are: General William Booth Enters into Heaven and Other Poems (1913), The Congo and Other Poems (1914), The Art of the Moving Picture (1915) and The Chinese Nightingale and Other Poems (1917).