The Golden Book of Springfield
The Golden Book of Springfield is a utopian novel by Vachel Lindsay, written between 1904 and 1918 and published in 1920. Set in Springfield, Illinois, it imagines the city transformed into a paradise in the year 2018, as experienced through mystical visions by the Prognosticators' Club and the author. The narrative explores themes of spiritual awakening and social reform in a community grappling with corruption and commercialism, guided by the enigmatic figure of St. Friend.
Editions
X-Ray
“...and the handsome jester, Devil’s Gold, is shaking his bead-covered rattle, making medicine and calling us by name. We are so tired from our long walk that we cannot but admire his gilded face and his yellow magic blanket. And, holding each other’s hands like lovers, we stoop and admire ourselves in the golden pool that flickers in the great campfire he has impudently built at the crossing of two streets in Heaven.But we do not step into the pool as beforetime. Our boat is beside us, it has overtaken us like some faithful tame giant swan, and Avanel whispers: “Take us where The Golden Book was written.” And thus we are up and away. The boat carries us deeper, down the valley. We find the cell of Hunter Kelly,”
— Vachel Lindsay
“In a whirlwind world, independent languor becomes a virtue, and meditation engenders a finer art than any nervousness””
— Vachel Lindsay
“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.””
— Vachel Lindsay
