"Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" is a 1914 poem by American poet Vachel Lindsay.
It portrays Abraham Lincoln walking the streets of Springfield, Illinois, stirred from his eternal sleep, a man, who even in death, is burdened by the tragedies of the modern world.
At the time the poem was written, Lindsay was depressed by knowledge of the blood and death exacted by World War I.
[1] This poem is now used in many schools and districts as an inspirational figure of the Civil War, as well as United States history.
In 1953 composer Roy Harris wrote a chamber cantata based upon this poem, scored for mezzo-soprano, violin, cello, and piano.