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Louise Andreeff
Mrs. Kirschner
English II Section II
6 April 2016
Reversing Change: lehcaV yasdinL
I am haunted always by a vision of a splendid America said by the free-verse Populist
poet, Vachel Lindsay, remarking his contrasting attitudes to Americas rising, new modernized
culture (Folks 322; Mitchell). His poetry was influenced by the combination of his adoption of
his mothers conservative religious beliefs, his tramps across America, and his experiences in
his hometown, Springfield, Illinois, such as Lincolns grave that is near his childhood home and
the Springfield Riot. These attributes stimulated the idea of expressing his views on African
Americans and his plan to reverse the modernization of America while returning to agrarian
societies as seen in his poems The Congo, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Abraham Lincoln
Walks at Midnight, and The Leadened-Eye. Lindsays purpose is to spread his opinions and
ideas about Americas popular culture as he formats his poetry so his audience can clearly
understand his message and hopefully adopt it.
The Industrial Revolution was occurring at warp speed, and Lindsay was neither prepared
nor accepting of the incredulous changes in America. He devoted his artistic talents to influence
Americas large working-class to return to a life without modernization, his goal being to
rehabilitate the simplistic lifestyle of the agrarian past (McAlister). However, as America was
becoming an industrial superpower, booming with technological advancements, his poetic
audience was mesmerized with the improvements of America and ignored his plan (Folks 321).
Lindsays inability to accept the succeeding generations obsession with technology and

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prosperous industries led to Lindsays depression and paranoia, which preceded his suicide
(Folks 321).
In 1931, fifty-two-year-old Lindsay had anxiety about the nations future that led him to
exhibit manic-depressive behavior so erratic that his wife was advised by a doctor to leave her
husband for her own safety (Three Literary Suicides). Lindsays failed attempt to prove Nick
Caraway wrong by trying to repeat the past, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (110),
caused him to commit suicide by drinking Lysol (Three Literary Suicides). At the end of his
life, Lindsay realized that he did not have the ability to hold America from running forward, and
his ideas to restore the past were irrelevant.
Before he experienced this epiphany, he was eager to apply his poetry gifts after studying
at the Art Institute of Chicago and the New York School of Art (McAlister). His parents instilled
in him a sense of civic activism (McAlister). Lindsay incorporated his beloved mothers
conservative religious beliefs into his poetry as he deemed, every line I ever wrote, was her
opinions and ideas rewritten (Folks 328). Lindsay recognized that American society was
exclusively focused on the accomplishments of human inventiveness and was separating from
their religious beliefs that inculcated virtues of prudence and self-restraint (Folks 322-323).
Lindsay strived for a cultural reformation to induce Americans to focus solely on God; Lindsay
believed that he was fulfilling his ancestral mission (Folks 328).
Lindsays views with respect to this mission, are seen in his poem, The Leaden-Eyed,
in which Lindsay suggests that It is the worlds one crime for producing humans who idolize
mans creation while leaving God behind (3). Lindsay uses repetition in the last four lines of his
poem to reiterate that the technology-obsessed generation is not following God, but are dull or
leaden-eyed by technologys overwhelming presence in American society. He notes that these

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people are ox-like and limp because not that they serve, but have no gods to serve
(Lindsay 7), as they have detached from following Gods ways and believe that His guidance is
unnecessary.
Lindsay believed that Springfield, Illinois was a quintessential town that preserved the
last of the vanishing Christian Populist flame. Near his childhood home was Abraham Lincolns
burial site, a landmark that fueled one of Lindsays famous poems, Abraham Lincoln Walks at
Midnight. The ghostly figure of Abraham Lincoln roams near a Springfield courthouse in
mourning when World War I breaks out, and Lincoln knows Americans will suffer (Pinkerton,
Jan, and Randolph H. Hudson). Lindsay expresses his beliefs through Lincoln, as he is a
respected, prominent figure of American society; so, the people will be inclined to consider and
assume Lincolns positions. Lindsay focuses on Lincolns restless spirit, which cannot sleep until
society returns to its foreign neutrality posts, occupied with small town farmers, and reaches
temperance in America, all beliefs given and inspired by Lindsay. Lindsay uses imagery to allow
the reader to picture Lincoln realistically reviving to ensure that Lincolns beliefs are taken
seriously. In addition, Lindsay uses color imagery to show the contrast between peace and chaos
through the difference in light and dark colors. As light colors represent a shining hope and
white peace, a vision with Lincolns guidance, while dark references like midnight and
black terror show Lindsays and Lincolns view of a disgraceful American society (Lindsay 2,
20, 26, 31). Lindsay speaks directly to the reader, master of us allHe is among us, to
emphasize that Lincolns ideas are significant to every member of society, and even though
Lincoln died, his opinions are relevant (12, 14).
In the August of 1908, race riots in Springfield sparked Lindsay's curiosity in race
relations between African Americans and whites. He reflected on the riots in his legendary poem,

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"The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race" as he developed a plan that "African Americans would
be assimilated within a national culture, (Folks 327). In his poem, Lindsay depicts his plan of
civilizing African savages by Christian missionaries (Folks 327). This plan was widely
contradicted by the majority of whites who longed for African Americans to remain inferior and
excluded from society. In every stanza, Lindsay compares scenes of assimilated African
Americans following a presumed parallel Congo scene to show how civilized, normal,
prosperous, and deserving of equality the African Americans could be (Pinkerton, Jan, and
Randolph H. Hudson). Lindsay describes their assimilation as a land transfigured, twas a new
creation./Oh, a singing wind swept the negro nation (164-165) as they would no longer be
perceived as stupor and savagery and sin and wrong (143).
In "The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race," Lindsay exercised his technique of higher
vaudeville, what he disparagingly called his frivolous performances (Folks 328). His purpose of
writing was to share his views; he sculpts his writing in a way that would entertain his audiences
and compel them to listen to his message. The American audience heard echoes of their culture,
which they found different and refreshing from "New Poetry" which is esoteric (Ward).
"Lindsays achievements have always been measured by the size, enthusiasm, and attention of
his audiences" (Ward); throughout The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race, Lindsay replicates
the voices of African Americans in order to depict them accurately and relate to the audience.
Lindsay writes as if the African Americans were chanting and singing as they would in their
native Congo culture, allowing the poem to come alive as a performance:
Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, boom.
Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, boom.
BOOM

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Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you,
Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you.
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo-doo you.
Lindsay commonly uses an AABBCC rhyme scheme to enrich the energetic beat of a Congo
drum, allowing the poem to be songlike, while enhancing the overall performance and showing
their culture.
Lindsay set out on three tramps, which is what he called his walking trips throughout
America. He walked without money while trading his poetry for food and shelter (McAlister).
His travels through both cities and rural land taught him about the variety of American life and
how it rejected nostalgia and generalization (Ward). Furthermore, his tramps led him to side
with the multitudes of inhabitants of the Midwest, who were predominantly farmers, against the
few powerful and dominant monopolists on the east coast like J.P. Morgan and Rockefeller. He
supported the Midwesterners because they closely mimicked Lindsays plan for an agrarian,
simplistic America. He shared his political, controversial beliefs through his poems in search for
advocates.
In his poem, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, he stresses his political view, By the dour
East oppressedCrucifying half the West (Lindsay 67, 70) and expansionist economic plan of
supplementing the gold standard for the free coinage of silver as it will benefit the common man
by providing economic opportunities (Folk 323). Lindsay describes himself as a teenager during
William Jennings Bryans 1896 presidential campaign. Similar to how Lindsay uses Lincoln to
disseminate his beliefs in his poem Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight, Lindsay uses Bryan,
an esteemed American figure. Bryan instills traditional American values like Lindsay. Lindsay
uses allusion throughout the poem to relate to his audience, 'The people have a right to make

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their own mistakes...You shall not crucify mankind/Upon a cross of gold,' as he references
Bryans renowned speech, Cross of Gold (161-163). Lindsay uses a sporadic rhyme scheme
throughout his over 220-line poem when he states his beliefs or significant, revolutionary ideas
that he desires his audience to attend to such as I brag and chant of Bryan/Candidate for
president who sketched a silver Zion/He brought in tides of wonder, of unprecedented
splendor/Wild roses from the plains, that made hearts tender (Lindsay 1-2, 3-4). Those few
lines, with their emphasis on the rhymed words, demonstrate how Bryan supports the change to a
silver currency that will bring wealth to those in rural, poor societies. He uses an intermittent
rhyme scheme so his audience will concentrate on at least the rhymed phrases, understand the
basics of his ideas, and hopefully adopt them. At the climax of the poem, Lindsay uses repetition
to show his rising anger when Bryan loses the election:
Defeat of alfalfa and the Mariposa lily.
Defeat of the Pacific and the long Mississippi.
Defeat of the young by the old and the silly.
Defeat of tornadoes by the poison vats supreme.
Defeat of my boyhood, defeat of my dream.
Even though Bryan lost, Lindsay believed that Bryan represented the providential mission of
American democracy and that his views were necessary to share. Lindsays use of allusions,
intermittent rhyme schemes, and repetition are tactics that he thought would further his
audiences interest in his beliefs and dreams for America to return to its primarily rural societies.
"In Lindsays mind, reform implied a turning away from change" (Folks 324), even
though Lindsay failed to continue his ancestral mission by reversing the modernization of
America, returning to mainly agrarian societies, and assimilate African Americans, welcoming

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them as equals. These beliefs, as seen in his poems, were influenced by his religious mother and
his physical location in America. Growing up in Springfield, Illinois, next to Abraham Lincolns
grave and experiencing the Springfield Riot, he was able to combine his idiosyncratic,
countercultural ideas within the comfort of describing what he knows. When he traveled the
nation through his tramps, many recognized his talent in poetry and performance with his
higher vaudeville method. With his primitivism ideas largely disregarded, Lindsays balance
of theme and song, of creed in distinctive rhythm, is Lindsays most durable accomplishment
(Ward). Although the failure of his ideas of a cultural reformation caused his depression and later
suicide, Lindsay fought to be recognized, qualities that kept his poetry alive posthumously.

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Works Cited
Folks, Jeffrey. "Vachel Lindsay's Covenant With America." Modern Age 50.4 (2008): 321-331.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
Lindsay, Vachel. "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight." Poetry Foundation. 2015 Poetry
Foundation, n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2016. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176810>.
Lindsay, Vachel. "Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan." Poem Hunter. Pome Hunter, n.d. Web. 2 Mar.
2016. <http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/vachel-lindsay/bryan-bryan-bryanbryan/>.
Lindsay, Vachel. "The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race." Poetry Foundation. 2015 Poetry
Foundation, n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2016. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176812>.
Lindsay, Vachel. "The Leaden-Eyed." Poem Hunter. Poem Hunter, n.d. Web. 21 Mar.
2016. <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-leaden-eyed/>.
McAllister, Brian. "Lindsay, Vachel." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J.
Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern:
18961945, Revised Edition, vol. 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's
Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
McAllister, Brian. "'The Congo.'" In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J.
Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern:
18961945, Revised Edition, vol. 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's
Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Mitchell, Roger. "Modernism Comes to American Poetry: 19081920."A Profile of TwentiethCentury American Poetry, Jack Myers and David Wojahn, eds. (Southern Illinois
University, 1991): pp. 2553. Quoted as "Modernism Comes to American Poetry: 1908

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1920" in Bloom, Harold ed. American Modernist Poets, Bloom's Modern Critical Views.
New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2011.Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web.
29 Feb. 2016.
Pinkerton, Jan, and Randolph H. Hudson. "The Congo and Other Poems." Encyclopedia of the
Chicago Literary Renaissance. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Bloom's Literature.
Facts On File, Inc. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
"Three Literary Suicides." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 4: 1930-1939.
Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
Ward, John Chapman. "Vachel Lindsay." Critical Survey Of Poetry, Second Revised Edition
(2002): 1-7. Literary Reference Center. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.