The long parade rolled on. I stood by my best girl.
She was a cool young citizen, with wise and laughing eyes.
With my necktie by my ear, I was stepping on my dear,
But she kept like a pattern, without a shaken curl.
She wore in her hair a brave prairie rose.
Her gold chums cut her, for that was not the pose.
No Gibson Girl would wear it in that fresh way.
But we were fairy Democrats, and this was our day.
—Vachel Lindsay, "Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan" (1919)
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 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.
In the speech, Bryan supports bimetallism or "free silver", which he argues will bring the nation prosperity, and he decries the gold standard, 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, the winning candidate William McKinley, and McKinley's innovative campaign manager Mark Hanna. The poem also references contemporary 1890s cultural archetypes such as the Gibson Girl.
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