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The golden whales of California, and other rhymes in the American language cover

The golden whales of California, and other rhymes in the American language

Chapter 44: IN MEMORY OF MY FRIEND JOYCE KILMER, POET AND SOLDIER
By Vachel Lindsay
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About This Book

The collection gathers lyrical and narrative poems that range from long, scene-setting pieces celebrating California's landscapes and the new art of the moving picture to playful rhymed scenarios and verse games. It interleaves meditations on history, myth, science, and religion with comic sketches and dialectal songs, moves into wartime reflections and elegies for fallen poets, and closes with local, Midwestern vignettes and personal tributes. The poet shifts between high-lyric description, satirical invective, and vernacular rhythms, experimenting with form and voice to present an uneven but energetic portrait of American life, technology, and regional identity in early twentieth-century verse.

IN MEMORY OF MY FRIEND JOYCE KILMER, POET AND SOLDIER

Written Armistice Day, November eleventh, 1918

I hear a thousand chimes,
I hear ten thousand chimes,
I hear a million chimes
In Heaven.
I see a thousand bells,
I see ten thousand bells,
I see a million bells
In Heaven.
Listen, friends and companions.
Through the deep heart,
Sweetly they toll.
I hear the chimes
Of tomorrow ring,
The azure bells
Of eternal love....
I see the chimes
Of tomorrow swing:
On unseen ropes
They gleam above.
Rejoice, friends and companions.
Through the deep heart
Sweetly they toll.
They shake the sky
They blaze and sing.
They fill the air
Like larks a-wing,
Like storm-clouds
Turned to blue-bell flowers.
Like Spring gone mad,
Like stars in showers.
Join the song,
Friends and companions.
Through the deep heart
Sweetly they toll.
And some are near,
And touch my hand,
Small whispering blooms
From Beulah Land.
Giants afar
Still touch the sky,
Still give their giant
Battle-cry.
Join hands, friends and companions.
Through the deep heart
Sweetly they toll.
And every bell
Is voice and breath
Of a spirit
Who has conquered death,
In this great war
Has given all,
Like Kilmer
Heard the hero-call.
Join hands,
Poets,
Friends,
Companions.
Through the deep heart
Sweetly they toll!