The Congo and Other Poems

Vachel Lindsay had some serious things to tell Americans: about our obsession with productivity, our neglect of the imagination, our destructive militarism and spectacle-like brand of politics. He also had some very beautiful and life-sustaining things to tell us that cannot be summarized in a list. As usual, America found a way to ignore the serious things he had to say, and instead turned him into an entertainer. They wanted only his "performance pieces" - the chanting and the music - without thinking about the content of his words. And so Lindsay was reduced, first by his public and then by literary historians, to a minor eccentric, a showman. And even on the back of this book, Lindsay's major contribution is identified as his recitations and instructions for chanting. He can seem like a distant and silly figure. Most books of his poetry, including this one, list "The Congo" (one of his chants) as his most famous and significant poem. It is not a maliciously racist poem, but it is definitely patronizing. When people look at all the nonsense vocables ("mumbo-jumbo will hoo-doo you" and so on) and the instructions for how to read the poem in the margins, I suspect that many of them will decide that Vachel Lindsay is not worth their time. This is certainly what I did at first. A little later, however, I found this book in a pile of sale books for next to nothing, and started flipping to the poems in the back. It is the only collection of Lindsay's poetry still in print. Other than "The Congo" and a few others, these poems contain no marginal notes and are entirely self-contained on the page. And they are beautiful, disturbing, fanciful, funny, strange, and entirely wonderful. I found one great poem after another, page after page, mixed with only a few that didn't speak to me. After a few days, I had read the entire book and it became clear to me that Vachel Lindsay is one of this country's true poets. He is our Blake: a great lyricist, a prophet, a denouncer - and yes, also a little bit of a nut. Forget his famous poems, the ones that are included in the Anthologies. They are not the heart of his achievement. Look at poems like "The Traveller-Heart" and "The Perfect Marriage," and all of those little moon poems in the back of this book (they are not so little as they first seem). There is a great deal more that is wonderful in his Collected Poems, but that book is out-of-print and expensive, so this will do for now. Early in his career, Lindsay gave his poems away to strangers in exchange for food and shelter, so it is fitting that his work survives now in the form of this cheap book, available for little more than spare change. It is worth your attention. The North Star Whispers to the Blacksmith's Son The North Star whispers: "You are one Of those whose course no chance can change. You blunder, but are not undone, Your spirit-task is fixed and strange. "When here you walk, a bloodless shade, A singer all men else forget. Your chants o

Lindsay had a difficult and tragic life. He tried to be a wandering American poet, some kind of combination of bard and entertainer. However as most who deal in the worlds of artistic creation know, money did not come easily. He too though at one point attaining great reputation for his poem ,"The Congo" did not sustain this, and knew much negative criticism and rejection. In any case I know from way back one poem of his , included in this anthology, which I truly like though I have always found mystifying. It is one of his most well- known poems.'Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" I think on the basis of this poem alone, Lindsay is worth remembering.

This book of poetry is a delightful. I particularly enjoyed the poem to Mary Pickford. It must have been exciting to be the first to experience the new art form of motion pictures. Anyone who enjoys well written American poetry from a writer who did much to promote poetry will do well to purchase this book.

Vachel Lindsay has a distinct, very rhythmic poetic style that is often used (and was often intended for) plays and dramatic performances. The first poem of this book, "The Congo," is his most famous-- if you happen to be familiar with the movie Dead Poets Society, you might remember the chant-like selection they read, "Then I saw the Congo creeping through the black, cutting through the forest with a golden track." A great deal of Lindsay's poetry has this chant-like flow that makes them ideal for reading aloud. Be warned, however, "The Congo" has several very racist remarks, including references to the Africans as "savages." Keep in mind this poem was first published in 1914 (in fact, this book is an unabridged reprinting of that same edition) and much of the language used was common then. However, it is difficult to read with that state of mind in today's world, and if reading it might offend you, then don't (or skip to the other poems.) Don't let that detract from his gift of rhythm and rhyme and his many other beautiful poems, which are often inspirational and moving. Take, for example, this selection from "I Heard Immanuel Singing," about David singing to God: "No chant of gilded Triumph-- His lonely song was made Of Art's deliberate freedom; Of minor chords arrayed In soft and shadowy colors That once were radiant flowers:-- The Rose of Sharon, bleeding In Olive-shadowed bowers:--" Altogether, this is an inexpensive edition that would be ideal for a dramatic presentation or just for personal enjoyment.