Poems by Vachel Lindsay

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Written For A Musician

Hungry for music with a desperate hunger

I prowled abroad, I threaded through the town;

The evening crowd was clamoring and drinking,

Vulgar and pitiful—my heart bowed down—

Till I remembered duller hours made noble

By strangers clad in some suprising grace.

Wait, wait my soul, your music comes ere midnight

Appearing in some unexpected place

by Vachel Lindsay

Prologue To Rhymes To Be Traded For Bread

Even the shrewd and bitter,

Gnarled by the old world's greed,

Cherished the stranger softly

Seeing his utter need.

Shelter and patient hearing,

These were their gifts to him,

To the minstrel chanting, begging,

As the sunset-fire grew dim.

by Vachel Lindsay

The Dandelion

O dandelion, rich and haughty,

King of village flowers!

Each day is coronation time,

You have no humble hours.

I like to see you bring a troop

To beat the blue-grass spears,

To scorn the lawn-mower that would be

Like fate's triumphant shears,

by Vachel Lindsay

Our Mother Pocahontas

(Note: — Pocahontas is buried at Gravesend, England.)

"Pocahontas' body, lovely as a poplar, sweet as a red haw in November or a pawpaw in May — did she wonder? does she remember — in the dust — in the cool tombs?"

CARL SANDBURG.

Powhatan was conqueror,

Powhatan was emperor.

He was akin to wolf and bee,

Brother of the hickory tree.

by Vachel Lindsay

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 of hammer, forge and spade

Will move the prarie-village yet.

by Vachel Lindsay

The Light O' The Moon

[How different people and different animals look upon the moon: showing that each creature finds in it his own mood and disposition]

The Old Horse in the City

The moon's a peck of corn. It lies

Heaped up for me to eat.

I wish that I might climb the path

And taste that supper sweet.

Men feed me straw and scanty grain

And beat me till I'm sore.

by Vachel Lindsay

Concerning Emperors

I. GOD SEND THE REGICIDE

Would that the lying rulers of the world

Were brought to block for tyrannies abhorred.

Would that the sword of Cromwell and the Lord,

The sword of Joshua and Gideon,

Hewed hip and thigh the hosts of Midian.

God send that ironside ere tomorrow's sun;

Let Gabriel and Michael with him ride.

by Vachel Lindsay

By The Spring, At Sunset

Sometimes we remember kisses,

Remember the dear heart-leap when they came:

Not always, but sometimes we remember

The kindness, the dumbness, the good flame

Of laughter and farewell.

Beside the road

Afar from those who said "Good-by" I write,

Far from my city task, my lawful load.

by Vachel Lindsay

What The Ghost Of The Gambler Said

Where now the huts are empty,

Where never a camp-fire glows,

In an abandoned cañon,

A Gambler's Ghost arose.

He muttered there, "The moon's a sack

Of dust." His voice rose thin:

"I wish I knew the miner-man.

I'd play, and play to win.

by Vachel Lindsay

Darling Daughter Of Babylon

Too soon you wearied of our tears.

And then you danced with spangled feet,

Leading Belshazzar's chattering court

A-tinkling through the shadowy street.

With mead they came, with chants of shame.

DESIRE'S red flag before them flew.

And Istar's music moved your mouth

And Baal's deep shames rewoke in you.

by Vachel Lindsay

At Mass

No doubt to-morrow I will hide

My face from you, my King.

Let me rejoice this Sunday noon,

And kneel while gray priests sing.

It is not wisdom to forget.

But since it is my fate

Fill thou my soul with hidden wine

To make this white hour great.

by Vachel Lindsay

Two Old Crows

Two old crows sat on a fence rail.

Two old crows sat on a fence rail,

Thinking of effect and cause,

Of weeds and flowers,

And nature's laws.

One of them muttered, one of them stuttered,

One of them stuttered, one of them muttered.

Each of them thought far more than he uttered.

by Vachel Lindsay