It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Harriet Monroe (left) in Vachel Lindsay's career. In 1912, as she was researching prospective contributors for her brainchild magazine, Poetry, she found Vachel in an issue of the American and contacted him through that magazine.Lindsay, fresh from the road on his last great tramp, responded with a large envelope full of verses including General William Booth Enters into Heaven. The appearance of that poem in Monroe's magazine in January, 1913 was the break-through event that secured Lindsay's place in American letters. Monroe later called it "a great event in the art."
Monroe remained a loyal friend and ally of Lindsay's for the rest of his life.
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Hey, thanks for coming over and visiting my humble little blog. Since that posting of The Leaden Eyed my readership has grown. Since I admire Lindsey's work so very much, and I also appreciated your comment I have reprinted the post here along with your comment. I have also posted it on a group blog with wider readership at Big Brass Blog where we have a good representation of Illinoisians and even some Chicago suberb hoosiers. I hope this helps increase traffic here and spreads the word about a truly great voice in American poetry.
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