Light accents very light.Last line whispered.#Or Mumbo-Jumbo, God of the Congo, And all of the other Gods of the Congo, Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you, Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you, Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you."II.Their Irrepressible High Spirits# Rather shrill and high.#Wild crap-shooters with a whoop and a call Danced the juba in their gambling-hall And laughed fit to kill, and shook the town, And guyed the policemen and laughed them down With a boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM.
# Read exactly as in first section.#
THEN I SAW THE CONGO, CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACK, CUTTING THROUGH THE FOREST WITH A GOLDEN TRACK.
# Lay emphasis on the delicate ideas.
Keep as light-footed as possible.#
A negro fairyland swung into view, A minstrel river Where dreams come true.
The ebony palace soared on high Through the blossoming trees to the evening sky.
The inlaid porches and casements shone With gold and ivory and elephant-bone.
And the black crowd laughed till their sides were sore At the baboon butler in the agate door, And the well-known tunes of the parrot band That trilled on the bushes of that magic land.
# With pomposity.#
A troupe of skull-faced witch-men came Through the agate doorway in suits of flame, Yea, long-tailed coats with a gold-leaf crust And hats that were covered with diamond-dust.
And the crowd in the court gave a whoop and a call And danced the juba from wall to wall.
# With a great deliberation and ghostliness.#But the witch-men suddenly stilled the throng With a stern cold glare, and a stern old song: --"Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you."...
# With overwhelming assurance, good cheer, and pomp.#Just then from the doorway, as fat as shotes, Came the cake-walk princes in their long red coats, Canes with a brilliant lacquer shine, And tall silk hats that were red as wine.
# With growing speed and sharply marked dance-rhythm.#And they pranced with their butterfly partners there, Coal-black maidens with pearls in their hair, Knee-skirts trimmed with the jassamine sweet, And bells on their ankles and little black feet.
And the couples railed at the chant and the frown Of the witch-men lean, and laughed them down.
(O rare was the revel, and well worth while That made those glowering witch-men smile.)The cake-walk royalty then began To walk for a cake that was tall as a man To the tune of "Boomlay, boomlay, BOOM,"# With a touch of negro dialect, and as rapidly as possible toward the end.#While the witch-men laughed, with a sinister air, And sang with the scalawags prancing there: --"Walk with care, walk with care, Or Mumbo-Jumbo, God of the Congo, And all of the other Gods of the Congo, Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you.
Beware, beware, walk with care, Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, boom.
Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, boom, Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, boom, Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM."# Slow philosophic calm.#
Oh rare was the revel, and well worth while That made those glowering witch-men smile.
III.The Hope of their Religion# Heavy bass.With a literal imitation of camp-meeting racket, and trance.#A good old negro in the slums of the town Preached at a sister for her velvet gown.
Howled at a brother for his low-down ways, His prowling, guzzling, sneak-thief days.
Beat on the Bible till he wore it out Starting the jubilee revival shout.
And some had visions, as they stood on chairs, And sang of Jacob, and the golden stairs, And they all repented, a thousand strong From their stupor and savagery and sin and wrong And slammed with their hymn books till they shook the room With "glory, glory, glory,"And "Boom, boom, BOOM."
# Exactly as in the first section.
Begin with terror and power, end with joy.#THEN I SAW THE CONGO, CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACKCUTTING THROUGH THE JUNGLE WITH A GOLDEN TRACK.
And the gray sky opened like a new-rent veil And showed the apostles with their coats of mail.
In bright white steele they were seated round And their fire-eyes watched where the Congo wound.
And the twelve Apostles, from their thrones on high Thrilled all the forest with their heavenly cry: --# Sung to the tune of "Hark, ten thousand harps and voices".#"Mumbo-Jumbo will die in the jungle;
Never again will he hoo-doo you, Never again will he hoo-doo you."# With growing deliberation and joy.#
Then along that river, a thousand miles The vine-snared trees fell down in files.
Pioneer angels cleared the way For a Congo paradise, for babes at play, For sacred capitals, for temples clean.
Gone were the skull-faced witch-men lean.
# In a rather high key -- as delicately as possible.#There, where the wild ghost-gods had wailed A million boats of the angels sailed With oars of silver, and prows of blue And silken pennants that the sun shone through.
'Twas a land transfigured, 'twas a new creation.
Oh, a singing wind swept the negro nation And on through the backwoods clearing flew: --# To the tune of "Hark, ten thousand harps and voices".#"Mumbo-Jumbo is dead in the jungle.
Never again will he hoo-doo you.
Never again will he hoo-doo you."
Redeemed were the forests, the beasts and the men, And only the vulture dared again By the far, lone mountains of the moon To cry, in the silence, the Congo tune: --# Dying down into a penetrating, terrified whisper.#"Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you, Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you.
Mumbo...Jumbo...will...hoo-doo...you."This poem, particularly the third section, was suggested by an allusion in a sermon by my pastor, F.W.Burnham, to the heroic life and death of Ray Eldred.Eldred was a missionary of the Disciples of Christ who perished while swimming a treacherous branch of the Congo.
See "A Master Builder on the Congo", by Andrew F.Hensey, published by Fleming H.Revell.
The Santa Fe Trail(A Humoresque)