A Handy Guide for Beggars
New Edition. Cloth, 12mo, $1.25
"The Handy Guide for Beggars" is an introduction to all Vachel Lindsay's
work. It gives his first adventures afoot. He walked through Florida,
Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, in the spring of 1906.
He walked through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and on to Hiram, Ohio,
in the spring of 1908. He carried on these trips his poems:
"The Tree of Laughing Bells", "The Heroes of Time", etc.
He recited them in exchange for food and lodging. He left copies
for those who appeared interested. The book is a record of these
journeys, and of many pleasing discoveries about American Democracy.
This book serves to introduce the next, "Adventures While Preaching
the Gospel of Beauty". In the spring and summer of 1912,
Mr. Lindsay walked from Springfield, Illinois, west to Colorado,
and into New Mexico. He was much more experienced in the road.
He carried "Rhymes to Be Traded for Bread", "The Village Improvement
Parade", etc. As is indicated in the title, he wrestled with a theory
of American aesthetics. "Christmas, 1915", the third book in the series,
appeared, applying the "Gospel of Beauty to the Photoplay".
The ideas of Art and Democracy that develop in the first two books
are used as the basic principles in "The Art of the Moving Picture".
Those who desire a close view of the Lindsay idea will do well
to read the three works in the order named. Further particulars
in the pages following.
The Congo and Other Poems
With a preface by Harriet Monroe, Editor of the 'Poetry Magazine'.
Cloth, 12mo, $1.25; leather, $1.60
In the readings which Vachel Lindsay has given for colleges,
universities, etc., throughout the country, he has won the approbation
of the critics and of his audiences in general for the new verse-form
which he is employing, as well as the manner of his chanting and
singing, which is peculiarly his own. He carries in memory all the poems
in his books, and recites the program made out for him; the wonderful
effect of sound produced by his lines, their relation to the idea which
the author seeks to convey, and their marvelous lyrical quality are quite
beyond the ordinary, and suggest new possibilities and new meanings in
poetry. It is his main object to give his already established friends
a deeper sense of the musical intention of his pieces.
The book contains the much discussed "War Poem", "Abraham Lincoln Walks
at Midnight"; it contains among its familiar pieces: "The Santa Fe
Trail", "The Firemen's Ball", "The Dirge for a Righteous Kitten",
"The Griffin's Egg", "The Spice Tree", "Blanche Sweet", "Mary Pickford",
"The Soul of the City", etc.
Mr. Lindsay received the Levinson Prize for the best poem contributed
to 'Poetry', a magazine of verse, (Chicago) for 1915.
"We do not know a young man of any more promise than Mr. Vachel Lindsay
for the task which he seems to have set himself."--'The Dial'.
General William Booth Enters Into Heaven and Other Poems
Price, $1.25; leather, $1.60
This book contains among other verses: "On Reading Omar Khayyam
during an Anti-Saloon Campaign in Illinois"; "The Wizard Wind";
"The Eagle Forgotten", a Memorial to John P. Altgeld;
"The Knight in Disguise", a Memorial to O. Henry; "The Rose and the
Lotus"; "Michaelangelo"; "Titian"; "What the Hyena Said"; "What Grandpa
Mouse Said"; "A Net to Snare the Moonlight"; "Springfield Magical";
"The Proud Farmer"; "The Illinois Village"; "The Building of
Springfield".
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Comments on the Title Poem:
"This poem, at once so glorious, so touching and poignant
in its conception and expression ... is perhaps the most remarkable poem
of a decade--one that defies imitation."--'Review of Reviews'.
"A sweeping and penetrating vision that works with a naive charm....
No American poet of to-day is more a people's poet."--'Boston
Transcript'.
"One could hardly overpraise 'General Booth'."--'New York Times'.
"Something new in verse, spontaneous, passionate, unmindful of
conventions in form and theme."--'The Living Age'.
Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty
Price, $1.00
This is a series of happening afoot while reciting at back-doors in the
west, and includes some experiences while harvesting in Kansas.
It includes several proclamations which apply the Gospel of Beauty
to agricultural conditions. There are, among other rhymed interludes:
"The Shield of Faith", "The Flute of the Lonely", "The Rose of Midnight",
"Kansas", "The Kallyope Yell".