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The newspapers all over the country reported Vachel Lindsay's death as a sudden case of heart failure, or angina pectoris, but this was far from the truth. Vachel Lindsay took his own life on December 5, 1931, at his home in Springfield, Illinois. The newspapers, such as the Illinois State Register, were told extravagant stories that strayed far from the truth. Everyone that was close to him, as well as his doctor, Dr. V C McMeen, covered up the truth concerning his death, expanding on the heart problem saying that he was complaining about it days before. He had suffered two previous attacks of angina within six years. The truth about his death was never revealed to the public until 1935, when Edgar Lee Masters published his biography of Vachel Lindsay. The week prior to Lindsay's death, he had returned from a lecture tour. He was believed to be in good health. However, sources told the paper that this was not his first case of heart problems. The first troubling experience with his heart started to appear shortly after he was married in 1925. After that time there were two other life-threatening attacks of angina pectoris according to Dr. McMeen. Friends who saw his last poetry reading on November 30, and people who met him on the street during that week commented that he had become thinner as well as weaker looking in stature. Dr. Cummings spent the day with him the day of his death, but he said Lindsay did not speak of any health problems. When a reporter from the newspaper interviewed Vachel, he said, "I am feeling as good as a man ought to feel." It was also stated that Lindsay looked forward to keeping engagements, writing new poetry, and performing in the future. The reporters were also told that he was a guest at the Hotel Abraham Lincoln at 4:00 p.m. where he had tea with friends. That night he dined with his family in his home. He concerned himself that evening with his literary writings. Lindsay fell asleep quite early in the night without signs of serious illness in any way. Then, the reporters were told that at approximately 12:30 Sunday morning he complained of serious illness and chest pains. A complete physical collapse occurred in Mrs. Lindsay's arms. Four years after reports from Dr. V C McMeen and from the Lindsay family, a disturbed Mrs. Lindsay, who never expressed the true manner of Vachel's death, revealed the truth. The complete story and biography was written and published by Edgar Lee Masters. Mrs. Lindsay told Masters that on November 30, 1931, Vachel presented a lecture at the First Christian Church after he had just ended a lecture tour on the East Coast. He was exhausted from the tour, during which he traveled to Washington D.C. It was there that he experienced crucial discourtesy. Unexpectedly, for no apparent reason, whether it was something said or some action taken, two hundred people from the audience left the auditorium. This embarrassment and failure caused the Washington event to be set in his mind. However, he was encouraged when he discovered he could once again perform in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. The attending audience in the First Christain Church of Springfield on Nov. 30 was large and affable. While hearing the enthusiastic applause, he turned to a friend and said, "I feel that at last I have won Springfield." However, this experience did not boost his confidence from the previous occurrence in Washington, which had hurt him deeply. At this time Vachel's marriage was also troubled, and his family was in deep financial trouble due to debts. He profited very little from his lecture tours and his family was in debt in excess of four thousand dollars. Vachel had been so unstable emotionally that on the day before his suicide Mrs. Lindsay went to consult a physician about Vachel's actions. The doctor told her that the transition from melancholy to high spirits was a portentous sign of his mental health and well being. That evening at dinner he was distraught, and he repeated over and over that he was an old man and his life and work were at an end. During the night, Mrs. Lindsay awoke to a loud crash and rushed out of the room. When she found Vachel, she put him in bed while he was asking for water. Then he told her that he had taken Lysol. A doctor was called, but he was too late. The time of death was December 5, 1931, at one o'clock in the morning. The funeral services for Nicholas Vachel Lindsay were held at the First Christian Church on December 8, 1931, at 3 p.m. The Reverend Clark Walter Cummings officiated the funeral. Vachel was then buried at the Oak Ridge Cemetery. Even though his death was tragic, Vachel's life and poetry still shine. |
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