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

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

Vachel Lindsay

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

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