Quotes from Vachel Lindsay

Old Euclid drew a circle On a sand-beach long ago. He bounded and enclosed it With angles thus and so. His set of solemn greybeards Nodded and argued much Of arc and circumference, Diameter and such. A silent child stood by them From morning until noon Because they drew such charming Round pictures of the moon.

Factory windows are always broken Other windows are let alone. No one throws through the chapel-window The bitter, snarling, derisive stone.

In a whirlwind world, independent languor becomes a virtue, and meditation engenders a finer art than any nervousness

Let not young souls be smothered out Before they do quaint deeds And fully flaunt their pride.

Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost Burning in Hell for his hand-maimed host, Hear how the demons chuckle and yell Cutting his hands off, down in hell

There are many earthly languages. There are many heavenly languages. There are many blazing, blinding tomorrows. But they all lead to the same glorious tomorrow at last.

The Dandelion" O dandelion, rich and haughty, King of village flowers! Each day is coronation time, You have no humble hours. I like to see you bring a troop To beat the blue-grass spears, To scorn the lawn-mower that would be Like fate's triumphant shears. Your yellow heads are cut away, It seems your reign is o'er. By noon you raise a sea of stars More golden than before.

Never be a cynic, even a gentle one. Never help out a sneer, even at the devil.