The Congo

Fat black bucks in a wine-barrel room,Barrel-house kings, with feet unstable,Sagged and reeled and pounded on the table,Pounded on the table,Beat an empty barrel with the handle of a broom,Hard as they were able,Boom, boom, BOOM,With a silk umbrella and the handle of a broom,Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM.THEN I had religion, THEN I had a vision.I could not turn from their revel in derision.Then along that riverbankA thousand milesTattooed cannibals danced in files;Then I heard the boom of the blood-lust songAnd a thigh-bone beating on a tin-pan gong.And "BLOOD" screamed the whistles and the fifes of the warriors,"BLOOD" screamed the skull-faced, lean witch-doctors,"Whirl ye the deadly voo-doo rattle,Harry the uplands,Steal all the cattle,Rattle-rattle, rattle-rattle,Bing.Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM,"A roaring, epic, rag-time tuneFrom the mouth of the CongoTo the Mountains of the Moon.Death is an Elephant,Torch-eyed and horrible,Foam-flanked and terrible.BOOM, steal the pygmies,BOOM, kill the Arabs,BOOM, kill the white men,Listen to the yell of Leopold's ghostBurning in Hell for his hand-maimed host.Hear how the demons chuckle and yellCutting his hands off, down in Hell.Listen to the creepy proclamation,Blown through the lairs of the forest-nation,Blown past the white-ants' hill of clay,Blown past the marsh where the butterflies play:--"Be careful what you do,Or Mumbo-Jumbo, God of the Congo,And all of the otherGods of the Congo,Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you,Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you,Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you."

Wild crap-shooters with a whoop and a callDanced the juba in their gambling-hallAnd laughed fit to kill, and shook the town,And guyed the policemen and laughed them downWith a boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM.A negro fairyland swung into view,A minstrel riverWhere dreams come true.The ebony palace soared on highThrough the blossoming trees to the evening sky.The inlaid porches and casements shoneWith gold and ivory and elephant-bone.And the black crowd laughed till their sides were soreAt the baboon butler in the agate door,And the well-known tunes of the parrot bandThat trilled on the bushes of that magic land.

A troupe of skull-faced witch-men cameThrough the agate doorway in suits of flame,Yea, long-tailed coats with a gold-leaf crustAnd hats that were covered with diamond-dust.And the crowd in the court gave a whoop and a callAnd danced the juba from wall to wall.But the witch-men suddenly stilled the throngWith a stern cold glare, and a stern old song:--"Mumbo-Jumbo will hoo-doo you."...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.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 frownOf the witch-men lean, and laughed them down.(O rare was the revel, and well worth whileThat made those glowering witch-men smile.)

The cake-walk royalty then beganTo walk for a cake that was tall as a manTo the tune of "Boomlay, boomlay, BOOM,"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 otherGods 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."Oh rare was the revel, and well worth whileThat made those glowering witch-men smile.

A good old negro in the slums of the townPreached 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 outStarting 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 strongFrom their stupor and savagery and sin and wrongAnd slammed with their hymn books till they shook the roomWith "glory, glory, glory,"And "Boom, boom, BOOM."And the gray sky opened like a new-rent veilAnd showed the apostles with their coats of mail.In bright white steele they were seated roundAnd their fire-eyes watched where the Congo wound.And the twelve Apostles, from their thrones on highThrilled all the forest with their heavenly cry:--"Mumbo-Jumbo will die in the jungle;Never again will he hoo-doo you,Never again will he hoo-doo you."

Then along that river, a thousand milesThe vine-snared trees fell down in files.Pioneer angels cleared the wayFor a Congo paradise, for babes at play,For sacred capitals, for temples clean.Gone were the skull-faced witch-men lean.There, where the wild ghost-gods had wailedA million boats of the angels sailedWith oars of silver, and prows of blueAnd silken pennants that the sun shone through.'Twas a land transfigured, 'twas a new creation.Oh, a singing wind swept the negro nationAnd on through the backwoods clearing flew:--"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 againBy the far, lone mountains of the moonTo cry, in the silence, the Congo tune:--"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 allusionin a sermon by my pastor, F. W. Burnham, to the heroic life and death ofRay Eldred. Eldred was a missionary of the Disciples of Christ whoperished while swimming a treacherous branch of the Congo. See "A MasterBuilder on the Congo", by Andrew F. Hensey, published by Fleming H.Revell.