The Chinese Nightingale, and Other Poems

About

Lindsay's 1917 collection shows the full range of his sonic ambitions — from the delicate title poem imagining a dialogue with an ancient Chinese spirit to the thunderous chants that made him famous. The Chinese Nightingale represents his most successful attempt at lyric beauty alongside percussive performance, and his jazz-influenced rhythms anticipate the Beat poets by thirty years. As a reading text it rewards those willing to take its exuberance on its own terms.