author
Vachel Lindsay
1879–1931
A poet, performer, and visual artist, he helped bring poetry back to the stage with work meant to be chanted aloud. Best known for its driving rhythms and public recitations, his writing made him one of the most distinctive American literary voices of the early 20th century.
10 Audiobooks
The Art of the Moving Picture
by Vachel Lindsay
The Chinese Nightingale, and Other Poems
by Vachel Lindsay
The Congo, and Other Poems
by Vachel Lindsay
Tramping With a Poet in the Rockies
by Stephen Graham, Vachel Lindsay
General William Booth Enters into Heaven, and Other Poems
by Vachel Lindsay
Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty
by Vachel Lindsay
The Golden Book of Springfield
by Vachel Lindsay
Going-to-the-Sun
by Vachel Lindsay
About the author
Born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1879, Vachel Lindsay first studied at Hiram College and later trained in art in Chicago and New York. That visual background stayed with him: alongside poetry, he also drew and thought deeply about the look and sound of art.
Lindsay became famous for treating poetry as a living performance rather than something meant only for the page. He called his approach "singing poetry," and his public readings were a major part of his appeal. Critics and reference works alike remember him for powerful rhythms, chant-like effects, and poems that reached broad audiences through oral performance.
His best-known books include General William Booth Enters into Heaven and Other Poems and The Congo and Other Poems. Though his work has also prompted later readers to revisit parts of it critically, especially where race is concerned, he remains an important figure in American poetry for the way he revived the spoken, performed side of the art. He died in Springfield in 1931.