"Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan" is a
lyric poem by American poet
Vachel Lindsay. Written in August 1919, the poem recounts the dramatic rise and fall of U.S. presidential candidate
William Jennings Bryan during the
1896 presidential campaign. The work was first published in ''
The Sun'', a New York City newspaper, and later included in Lindsay's 1920 collection ''The Golden Whales of California And Other Rhymes in the American Language''. The poem focuses upon the initial flowering of hope and later widespread despair among Bryan's ardent supporters throughout the electoral vicissitudes of the campaign.
Summary
The poem chronicles William Jennings Bryan's 1896 presidential campaign as seen through the eyes of an idealistic sixteen-year-old boy who strongly supports the
Democratic Party candidate. While attending a
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
rally with his best girl, the young lovers hear the famous
Cross of Gold speech recited by Bryan, a former United States
Representative from
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
.
In the speech, Bryan supports
bimetallism or "
free silver", which he argues will bring the nation prosperity, and he decries the
gold standard
A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
, proclaiming that "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold". Bryan's oft-recited speech becomes one of the most famous political addresses in American history and garners the young boy's undying loyalty.
The boy's spirits are later crushed by Bryan's defeat via political intrigue at the hands of the
Republican Party. The poem depicts the election outcome as an ignominious victory of large financial institutions and
East Coast elites such as
John Pierpont Morgan over the poorer regions and interest groups depicted as friendly toward Bryan such as the
American Midwest and
farmers.
The poem lists and comments upon many of the key political figures of the 1896 election, including the retiring presidential incumbent
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...
, the winning candidate
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
, and McKinley's innovative campaign manager
Mark Hanna. The poem also references contemporary 1890s cultural archetypes such as the
Gibson Girl.
References
Citations
Works cited
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External links
Text of "Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan"(Library of Congress)
Text of "Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan"(Poem Hunter)
Text of "Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan"(Read by Steve Kline)
American poems
1919 poems
William Jennings Bryan
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