[2] The work was first published in The Sun, a New York City newspaper, and later included in Lindsay's 1920 collection The Golden Whales of California And Other Rhymes in the American Language.
[3] The poem focuses upon the initial flowering of hope and later widespread despair among Bryan's ardent supporters throughout the electoral vicissitudes of the campaign.
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.
[4] 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.
[6] Bryan's oft-recited speech becomes one of the most famous political addresses in American history and garners the young boy's undying loyalty.