When American poet Vachel Lindsay wrote Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight in 1914, he probably didn't guess at how his poem would withstand the tests of time, remaining an important part of American culture and literature for more than 100 years. At the time, the First World War had broken out, and Lindsay was shocked at the brutality and terror created by a conflict of a magnitude that was never seen before up to that day. His poem depicts Abraham Lincoln as a figure of times gone by walking through the streets of his nation and the world, witnessing how, despite all his efforts, "kings must murder still" and people continue to be oppressed. An Author's Republic audio production.