Part 13

Men's Leader: King Solomon, King Solomon.

Both Leaders: King Solomon he kept the Sabbath holy. <The two stand, commanding the audience.> And spoke with tongues in prophet words so mighty <The man and woman stamp and whirl with great noise and solemnity.> We stamped and whirled and wept and shouted:--

Congregation Rises and Joins the Song: .... "Glory." We were his people.

<On these two lines, man and woman stamp and whirl again, gravely, magnificently.> Both Leaders: You shall be wild and gay, Green trees shall deck your way, <On these two lines they kneel, commanding the audience.> Sunday be every day, Ten thousand years.

<Now they rise and bow to each other and the audience, maintaining a certain intention of benediction.> King Solomon, King Solomon.

How Samson Bore Away the Gates of Gaza

(A Negro Sermon.)

Once, in a night as black as ink, She drove him out when he would not drink. Round the house there were men in wait Asleep in rows by the Gaza gate. But the Holy Spirit was in this man. Like a gentle wind he crept and ran. ("It is midnight," said the big town clock.)

He lifted the gates up, post and lock. The hole in the wall was high and wide When he bore away old Gaza's pride Into the deep of the night:-- The bold Jack Johnson Israelite,-- Samson-- The Judge, The Nazarite.

The air was black, like the smoke of a dragon. Samson's heart was as big as a wagon. He sang like a shining golden fountain. He sweated up to the top of the mountain. He threw down the gates with a noise like judgment. And the quails all ran with the big arousement.

But he wept--"I must not love tough queens, And spend on them my hard earned means. I told that girl I would drink no more. Therefore she drove me from her door. Oh sorrow! Sorrow! I cannot hide. Oh Lord look down from your chariot side. You made me Judge, and I am not wise. I am weak as a sheep for all my size."

Let Samson Be coming Into your mind.

The moon shone out, the stars were gay. He saw the foxes run and play. He rent his garments, he rolled around In deep repentance on the ground.

Then he felt a honey in his soul. Grace abounding made him whole. Then he saw the Lord in a chariot blue. The gorgeous stallions whinnied and flew. The iron wheels hummed an old hymn-tune And crunched in thunder over the moon. And Samson shouted to the sky: "My Lord, my Lord is riding high."

Like a steed, he pawed the gates with his hoof. He rattled the gates like rocks on the roof, And danced in the night On the mountain-top, Danced in the deep of the night: The Judge, the holy Nazarite, Whom ropes and chains could never bind.

Let Samson Be coming Into your mind.

Whirling his arms, like a top he sped. His long black hair flew round his head Like an outstretched net of silky cord, Like a wheel of the chariot of the Lord.

Let Samson Be coming Into your mind.

Samson saw the sun anew. He left the gates in the grass and dew. He went to a county-seat a-nigh. Found a harlot proud and high: Philistine that no man could tame-- Delilah was her lady-name. Oh sorrow, Sorrow, She was too wise. She cut off his hair, She put out his eyes.

Let Samson Be coming Into your mind.

---------------------------------------------- | The following pages contain advertisements | | of other books by the same author | | which appeared in the 1918 copy. | ----------------------------------------------

By the Same Author

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.