The Congo: A Study Of The Negro Race Poem Rhyme Scheme

Recent Interactions*

This poem was read 42 times,

This poem was added to the favorite list by 0 members,

This poem was voted by 0 members.

(* Interactions only in the last 7 days)

New Poems

Threatening And Reality
by Obed Yadzo
A Guidebook To My Future Friends
by Aditi Mukherjee
Ndihamba Ndisekhona" Chant Beat: Stomp-stomp-clap, Stomp-stomp-clap
by Asher Chipu
Ledige Praatjies
by Asher Chipu
Life Is Working
by Asher Chipu
The Knocking To The Door
by Asher Chipu
Ubizo: What You Are Called To Do
by Asher Chipu
Sum Obsession
by Asher Chipu
Locust
by Asher Chipu
Eden Passing
by Asher Chipu

Popular Poets

1. Emily Dickinson(2415 poems)
2. Madison Julius Cawein(1231 poems)
3. Ella Wheeler Wilcox(1136 poems)
4. William Wordsworth(1016 poems)
5. Robert Burns(986 poems)
6. Edgar Albert Guest(945 poems)
7. Thomas Moore(849 poems)
8. Robert Service(831 poems)

I THEIR BASIC SAVAGERY	A
	-
Fat black bucks in a wine barrel room	B
Barrel house kings with feet unstable	C
Sagged and reeled and pounded on the table	C
A deep rolling bass	D
Pounded on the table	C
Beat an empty barrel with the handle of a broom	B
Hard as they were able	C
Boom boom BOOM	B
With a silk umbrella and the handle of a broom	B
Boomlay boomlay boomlay BOOM	B
THEN I had religion THEN I had a vision	E
I could not turn from their revel in derision	E
THEN I SAW THE CONGO CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACK	F
More deliberate Solemnly chanted	G
CUTTING THROUGH THE FOREST WITH A GOLDEN TRACK	F
Then along that riverbank	H
A thousand miles	I
Tattooed cannibals danced in files	I
Then I heard the boom of the blood lust song	J
And a thigh bone beating on a tin pan gong	J
A rapidly piling climax of speed racket	K
And BLOOD screamed the whistles and the fifes of the warriors	L
BLOOD screamed the skull faced lean witch doctors	L
Whirl ye the deadly voo doo rattle	C
Harry the uplands	M
Steal all the cattle	C
Rattle rattle rattle rattle	C
Bing	N
Boomlay boomlay boomlay BOOM	B
A roaring epic rag time tune	O
With a philosophic pause	P
From the mouth of the Congo	Q
To the Mountains of the Moon	O
Death is an Elephant	R
Torch eyed and horrible	C
Shrilly and with a heavily accented metre	S
Foam flanked and terrible	C
BOOM steal the pygmies	T
BOOM kill the Arabs	U
BOOM kill the white men	V
HOO HOO HOO	W
Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghost	X
Like the wind in the chimney	A
Burning in Hell for his hand maimed host	X
Hear how the demons chuckle and yell	Y
Cutting his hands off down in Hell	Y
Listen to the creepy proclamation	E
Blown through the lairs of the forest nation	E
Blown past the white ants' hill of clay	Z
Blown past the marsh where the butterflies play	Z
Be careful what you do	W
Or Mumbo Jumbo God of the Congo	Q
All the O sounds very golden Heavy accents very heavy Light accents very light Last line whispered	A2
And all of the other	S
Gods of the Congo	Q
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W
	-
	-
II THEIR IRREPRESSIBLE HIGH SPIRITS	B2
	-
Wild crap shooters with a whoop and a call	C2
Rather shrill and high	D2
Danced the juba in their gambling hall	C2
And laughed fit to kill and shook the town	E2
And guyed the policemen and laughed them down	E2
With a boomlay boomlay boomlay BOOM	B
THEN I SAW THE CONGO CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACK	F
Read exactly as in first section	E
CUTTING THROUGH THE FOREST WITH A GOLDEN TRACK	F
A negro fairyland swung into view	W
Lay emphasis on the delicate ideas Keep as light footed as possible	C
A minstrel river	S
Where dreams come true	W
The ebony palace soared on high	D2
Through the blossoming trees to the evening sky	D2
The inlaid porches and casements shone	F2
With gold and ivory and elephant bone	F2
And the black crowd laughed till their sides were sore	G2
At the baboon butler in the agate door	G2
And the well known tunes of the parrot band	H2
That trilled on the bushes of that magic land	H2
	-
A troupe of skull faced witch men came	I2
With pomposity	A
Through the agate doorway in suits of flame	I2
Yea long tailed coats with a gold leaf crust	J2
And hats that were covered with diamond dust	J2
And the crowd in the court gave a whoop and a call	C2
And danced the juba from wall to wall	C2
But the witch men suddenly stilled the throng	J
With a great deliberation ghostliness	B2
With a stern cold glare and a stern old song	J
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W
Just then from the doorway as fat as shotes	B2
With overwhelming assurance good cheer and pomp	K2
Came the cake walk princes in their long red coats	B2
Canes with a brilliant lacquer shine	L2
And tall silk hats that were red as wine	L2
And they pranced with their butterfly partners there	M2
With growing speed and sharply marked dance rhythm	N2
Coal black maidens with pearls in their hair	M2
Knee skirts trimmed with the jassamine sweet	O2
And bells on their ankles and little black feet	O2
And the couples railed at the chant and the frown	E2
Of the witch men lean and laughed them down	E2
O rare was the revel and well worth while	P2
That made those glowering witch men smile	P2
	-
The cake walk royalty then began	Q2
To walk for a cake that was tall as a man	Q2
To the tune of Boomlay boomlay BOOM	B
While the witch men laughed with a sinister air	M2
With a touch of negro dialect and as rapidly as possible toward the end	R2
And sang with the scalawags prancing there	M2
Walk with care walk with care	M2
Or Mumbo Jumbo God of the Congo	Q
And all the other	S
Gods of the Congo	Q
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W
Beware beware walk with care	M2
Boomlay boomlay boomlay boom	B
Boomlay boomlay boomlay boom	B
Boomlay boomlay boomlay boom	B
Boomlay boomlay boomlay	P2
BOOM	B
Oh rare was the revel and well worth while	P2
Slow philosophic calm	S2
That made those glowering witch men smile	P2
	-
	-
III THE HOPE OF THEIR RELIGION	E
	-
A good old negro in the slums of the town	E2
Heavy bass With a literal imitation of camp meeting racket and trance	B2
Preached at a sister for her velvet gown	E2
Howled at a brother for his low down ways	B2
His prowling guzzling sneak thief days	B2
Beat on the Bible till he wore it out	T2
Starting the jubilee revival shout	T2
And some had visions as they stood on chairs	B2
And sang of Jacob and the golden stairs	B2
And they all repented a thousand strong	J
From their stupor and savagery and sin and wrong	J
And slammed with their hymn books till they shook the room	B
With glory glory glory	A
And Boom boom BOOM	B
THEN I SAW THE CONGO CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACK	F
Exactly as in the first section Begin with terror and power end with joy	U2
CUTTING THROUGH THE FOREST WITH A GOLDEN TRACK	F
And the gray sky opened like a new rent veil	P2
And showed the Apostles with their coats of mail	P2
In bright white steel they were seated round	V2
And their fire eyes watched where the Congo wound	V2
And the twelve Apostles from their thrones on high	D2
Thrilled all the forest with their heavenly cry	D2
Mumbo Jumbo will die in the jungle	P2
Sung to the tune of Hark ten thousand harps and voices	B2
Never again will he hoo doo you	W
Never again will he hoo doo you	W
	-
Then along that river a thousand miles	B2
With growing deliberation and joy	U2
The vine snared trees fell down in files	B2
Pioneer angels cleared the way	Z
For a Congo paradise for babes at play	Z
For sacred capitals for temples clean	W2
Gone were the skull faced witch men lean	W2
There where the wild ghost gods had wailed	X2
In a rather high key as delicately as possible	P2
A million boats of the angels sailed	X2
With oars of silver and prows of blue	W
And silken pennants that the sun shone through	W
'Twas a land transfigured 'twas a new creation	E
Oh a singing wind swept the negro nation	E
And on through the backwoods clearing flew	W
Mumbo Jumbo is dead in the jungle	P2
To the tune of Hark ten thousand harps and voices	B2
Never again will he hoo doo you	W
Never again will he hoo doo you	W
	-
Redeemed were the forests the beasts and the men	V
And only the vulture dared again	V
By the far lone mountains of the moon	O
To cry in the silence the Congo tune	O
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W
Dying down into a penetrating terrified whisper	S
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W
Mumbo Jumbo will hoo doo you	W

Vachel Lindsay

The Congo: A Study Of The Negro Race Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

About The Congo: A Study Of The Negro Race

Write your comment about The Congo: A Study Of The Negro Race poem by Vachel Lindsay

Recent Interactions*

New Poems

Popular Poets