Arts: The Mystery of Vachel Lindsay

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Classic Poems The Mystery of Vachel Lindsay How did the most visible poet in America—and a father of the Beats—become nearly forgotten? By T.R. Hummer Posted Tuesday, Dec 27, 2011, at 07:56 PM ET To readers who have enjoyed these monthly "Classic Poem" discussions: In order to keep them going while not driving the poetry editor over the edge and at the same time to introduce some different voices and ideas, we will from time to time have a guest columnist present a classic poem. That enhancement begins this week with T.R. Hummer.—Robert Pinsky Early in 1914, having heard a young and unknown poet perform in Chicago, W. B. Yeats approached him and asked, "What are we going to do to restore the primitive singing of poetry?" That young poet was Vachel Lindsay. Yeats' recognition of something unusual in the style of the performance was the beginning of a strange episode in American literary history. Even dedicated readers of poetry in our own time can be divided into two groups: those who know Vachel Lindsay and his work, and those who don't. When I was in my teens and 20s, the first group was by far the larger; now the latter is, and the difference in magnitude between them seems to grow exponentially with every passing year. My own interest in Lindsay, therefore, seems a bit perverse even to me. I find the mystery of his ascendency—in the 1920s he was arguably the most visible poet in America, whose performances were witnessed, and applauded, by thousands, Yeats among them—and his complementary disappearance irresistible. Success is instructive; abject failure is arguably even more so, and Lindsay embodies both. In the ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Fifteen Years Ago, Ron Paul Wasn't Claiming Somebody Else Wrote His Newsletters The Iron Lady Isn't Just a Terrible Movie About Thatcher—It's Terribly Sexist The Weirdos Who Collect Serial-Killer Memorabilia	Advertisement
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