Date of Award

1-1-1981

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

English

Abstract

Vachel Lindsay travelled thousands of miles, subjected himself to a grueling schedule of public appearances and stressed the oral presentation of his poetry over and above simple publication alone. In so doing, he set himself apart from others in the New Poetry movement which began during the second decade of this century. This study documents Lindsay's uniqueness.It does so by exploring, in chapter one, his search for an audience, first, through publication in magazines and through the publication of a volume of his verse, and, second, through oral presentation. It establishes Lindsay's early interest in the voice-to-ear approach and presents those elements in his background that account for that interest. Appendix A serves as a supplement to this chapter, setting out, in detail, Lindsay's confirmed appearances in print and before audiences. Chapter two continues to explore the problem by dealing with the question of who provided the poet with his audiences, exploring Lindsay's troubled relationship with the traditional institutions, such as publishing houses and lecture bureaus, and documenting Lindsay's extensive use of a unique and widespread informal network of individuals, who provided him with his listening audience. The chapter establishes Lindsay's perception of the poet as disperser of culture by citing several appearances of that idea in his writings. It goes on to make a connection between that perception and his call for a "prepared audience," an audience that was familiar with his poems and could therefore participate in the experience of them in a way that went beyond the printed page or the sounds of the words alone. Finally, the chapter establishes the connection between that perception and his dissatisfaction with the traditional milieu, as reflected in his increased reliance on the informal network and his eventual discovery of college and university English departments, themselves dispersers of knowledge and culture, as the most effective providers of the audiences he was seeking. Chapter three reports on the reactions to Lindsay's efforts, using them as a basis for a discussion of his poetic. It sets out Lindsay's views of poetry as a medium for his democratic message, pointing out how this manifests itself in the content of his poems; and it also establishes Lindsay's conviction that the music of poetry should be the formal element most emphasized in order to gain a hearing for his message. Finally, it explores these elements as they appear in his chants, his "Poem Games" and his poems of whimsy and fancy.

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