Analysis of Flower Fed Buffaloes
An Analysis of; Flower Fed Buffaloes by Vachel Lindsay
Content + “a brief Profile”
Vachel Lindsay’s “Flower Fed Buffaloes” is a carefully crafted lament of the destruction of the prairies, of what was once beauty, conveyed through the metaphor of the buffalo, the bison species native to the Great Plains. The bison were the very lifeblood of the prairie, and all of the Plains Indians, the Native American tribes (Lindsay specifically references the Pawnee and Blackfoot) depended on the buffalo for food, shelter, clothing, and equipment. It is entirely reflective, written in first person plural, past tense. In compliance with its reflective nature, the speakers are hinted at, but the reader/listener is never directly acknowledged. The time period Lindsay speaks of is when white settlers where venturing into new frontiers, bringing with them their own culture, religion, but most importantly technology. To the Native Americans, the buffalo held a steeped position in their culture, almost spiritual, as it shaped the basis of their way of life. To the Anglo-European settlers pressing westward, however, the buffalo were just brute beasts, to be killed for sport, slaughtered and piled aboard locomotives in the millions. (The bison species was massacred to near extinction at a very early point in Lindsay’s lifetime) This, the disappearance of the buffalo, forms the premise for the piece, sculpted as a single, flowing stanza, evenly delivered in thirteen lines. The wavering, ebb and flow delivery produces both a rolling rhythm, alongside a rising and faltering enunciation, evoking the lingering melodies of Native American chants and songs. This is intentionally done on Lindsay’s part, as he intended for his pieces to be sung, not merely spoken. Vachel Lindsay would later go on to be known as the “father of modern singing poetry”
Aim
The poet describes the vanishing buffalo, but ingeniously uses the first person plural format, (us) beckoning the reader, and is evocative of
Content + “a brief Profile”
Vachel Lindsay’s “Flower Fed Buffaloes” is a carefully crafted lament of the destruction of the prairies, of what was once beauty, conveyed through the metaphor of the buffalo, the bison species native to the Great Plains. The bison were the very lifeblood of the prairie, and all of the Plains Indians, the Native American tribes (Lindsay specifically references the Pawnee and Blackfoot) depended on the buffalo for food, shelter, clothing, and equipment. It is entirely reflective, written in first person plural, past tense. In compliance with its reflective nature, the speakers are hinted at, but the reader/listener is never directly acknowledged. The time period Lindsay speaks of is when white settlers where venturing into new frontiers, bringing with them their own culture, religion, but most importantly technology. To the Native Americans, the buffalo held a steeped position in their culture, almost spiritual, as it shaped the basis of their way of life. To the Anglo-European settlers pressing westward, however, the buffalo were just brute beasts, to be killed for sport, slaughtered and piled aboard locomotives in the millions. (The bison species was massacred to near extinction at a very early point in Lindsay’s lifetime) This, the disappearance of the buffalo, forms the premise for the piece, sculpted as a single, flowing stanza, evenly delivered in thirteen lines. The wavering, ebb and flow delivery produces both a rolling rhythm, alongside a rising and faltering enunciation, evoking the lingering melodies of Native American chants and songs. This is intentionally done on Lindsay’s part, as he intended for his pieces to be sung, not merely spoken. Vachel Lindsay would later go on to be known as the “father of modern singing poetry”
Aim
The poet describes the vanishing buffalo, but ingeniously uses the first person plural format, (us) beckoning the reader, and is evocative of