The Jingo and the Minstrel
An Argument for the Maintenance of Peace and Goodwill with the JapanesePeople
"Now do you know of AvalonThat sailors call Japan?She holds as rare a chivalryAs ever bled for man.King Arthur sleeps at Nikko hillWhere Iyeyasu lies,And there the broad Pendragon flagIn deathless splendor flies."
"Nay, minstrel, but the great ships comeFrom out the sunset sea.We cannot greet the souls they bringWith welcome high and free.How can the Nippon nondescriptsThat weird and dreadful bandBe aught but what we find them here:--The blasters of the land?"
"First race, first men from anywhereTo face you, eye to eye.For that do you curse AvalonAnd raise a hue and cry?These toilers cannot kiss your hand,Or fawn with hearts bowed down.Be glad for them, and Avalon,And Arthur's ghostly crown.
"No doubt your guests, with sage debateIn grave things gentlemenWill let your trade and farms aloneAnd turn them back again.But why should brawling braggarts riseWith hasty words of shameTo drive them back like dogs and swineWho in due honor came?"
"We cannot give them honor, sir.We give them scorn for scorn.And Rumor steals around the worldAll white-skinned men to warnAgainst this sleek silk-merchant hereAnd viler coolie-manAnd wrath within the courts of warBrews on against Japan!"
"Must Avalon, with hope forlorn,Her back against the wall,Have lived her brilliant life in vainWhile ruder tribes take all?Must Arthur stand with Asian Celts,A ghost with spear and crown,Behind the great Pendragon flagAnd be again cut down?
"Tho Europe's self shall move againstHigh Jimmu Tenno's throneThe Forty-seven Ronin MenWill not be found alone.For Percival and BedivereAnd Nogi side by sideWill stand,--with mourning Merlin there,Tho all go down in pride.
"But has the world the envious dream--Ah, such things cannot be,--To tear their fairy-land like silkAnd toss it in the sea?Must venom rob the future dayThe ultimate world-manOf rare Bushido, code of codes,The fair heart of Japan?
"Go, be the guest of Avalon.Believe me, it lies thereBehind the mighty gray sea-wallWhere heathen bend in prayer:Where peasants lift adoring eyesTo Fuji's crown of snow.King Arthur's knights will be your hosts,So cleanse your heart, and go.
"And you will find but gardens sweetPrepared beyond the seas,And you will find but gentlefolkBeneath the cherry-trees.So walk you worthy of your ChristTho church bells do not sound,And weave the bands of brotherhoodOn Jimmu Tenno's ground."
Words in this poem 15
- pendragon n.
- A chief leader or a king; a head; a dictator; -- a title assumed by the ancient British chiefs when called to lead other chiefs.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- brawling a.
- Quarreling; quarrelsome; noisy.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- asian a.
- Of or pertaining to Asia; Asiatic. [L. Asianus, Gr. Asia.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- ronin n.
- In Japan, under the feudal system, a samurai who had renounced his clan or who had been discharged or ostracized and had become a wanderer without a lord; an outcast; an outlaw.
- merlin n.
- A small European falcon (Falco lithofalco, or F. æsalon). [OE. merlion, F. émerillon ; cf. OHG. smirl, G. schmerl ; prob. fr. L. merula blackbird. Cf. Merle.]
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- bushido n.
- The unwritten code of moral principles regulating the actions of the Japanese knighthood, or Samurai; the chivalry of Japan.
- gentlefolk n.
- Persons of gentle or good family and breeding. Etym: [Generally in the United States in the plural form.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Jingo and the Minstrel is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Congo, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vachel Lindsay, The Jingo and the Minstrel, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/the-jingo-and-the-minstrel.html, id L18358.
Form and metre
The Jingo and the Minstrel is 82 lines in 11 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic trimeter. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 49% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 -A-A-B-B avalon · japanA · chivalry · manA · hill · liesB · flag · fliesB
- 3 -A-A-B-B come · seaA · bring · freeA · nondescripts · bandB · here · landB
- 4 -ABA-CBC anywhere · eyeA · avalonB · cryA · hand · downC · avalonB · crownC
- 5 -AAA-B-B debate · gentlemenA · aloneA · againA · rise · shameB · swine · cameB
- 6 -A-A-B-B sir · scornA · world · warnA · here · manB · war · japanB
- 7 -A-A-B-B forlorn · wallA · vain · allA · celts · crownB · flag · downB
- 8 -A-A-B-B against · throneA · men · aloneA · bedivere · sideB · there · prideB
- 9 -A-A-B-B dream · beA · silk · seaA · day · manB · codes · japanB
- 10 -A-A-B-B avalon · thereA · wall · prayerA · eyes · snowB · hosts · goB
- 11 -A-A-B-B sweet · seasA · gentlefolk · treesA · christ · soundB · brotherhood · groundB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| An Argument for the Maintenance of Peace and Goodwill with the Japanese | 17 | ·/˘··/˘···//···˘/ |
| People | 2 | /˘ |
| "Now do you know of Avalon | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That sailors call Japan? | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| She holds as rare a chivalry | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| As ever bled for man. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| King Arthur sleeps at Nikko hill | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where Iyeyasu lies, | 4 | ···· |
| And there the broad Pendragon flag | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| In deathless splendor flies." | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| "Nay, minstrel, but the great ships come | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| From out the sunset sea. | 6 | ···/·· |
| We cannot greet the souls they bring | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With welcome high and free. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| How can the Nippon nondescripts | 8 | ····//˘/ |
| That weird and dreadful band | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Be aught but what we find them here:-- | 8 | ········ |
| The blasters of the land?" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "First race, first men from anywhere | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To face you, eye to eye. | 6 | ······ |
| For that do you curse Avalon | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And raise a hue and cry? | 6 | ······ |
| These toilers cannot kiss your hand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or fawn with hearts bowed down. | 6 | ······ |
| Be glad for them, and Avalon, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Arthur's ghostly crown. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| "No doubt your guests, with sage debate | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In grave things gentlemen | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Will let your trade and farms alone | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And turn them back again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But why should brawling braggarts rise | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With hasty words of shame | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To drive them back like dogs and swine | 8 | ········ |
| Who in due honor came?" | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "We cannot give them honor, sir. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We give them scorn for scorn. | 6 | ······ |
| And Rumor steals around the world | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All white-skinned men to warn | 6 | ······ |
| Against this sleek silk-merchant here | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And viler coolie-man | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And wrath within the courts of war | 8 | ········ |
| Brews on against Japan!" | 6 | ····˘/ |
| "Must Avalon, with hope forlorn, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Her back against the wall, | 6 | ······ |
| Have lived her brilliant life in vain | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While ruder tribes take all? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Must Arthur stand with Asian Celts, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A ghost with spear and crown, | 6 | ······ |
| Behind the great Pendragon flag | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And be again cut down? | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| "Tho Europe's self shall move against | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| High Jimmu Tenno's throne | 6 | ······ |
| The Forty-seven Ronin Men | 7 | ·/˘//˘· |
| Will not be found alone. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For Percival and Bedivere | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And Nogi side by side | 6 | ······ |
| Will stand,--with mourning Merlin there, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Tho all go down in pride. | 6 | ······ |
| "But has the world the envious dream-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ah, such things cannot be,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To tear their fairy-land like silk | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And toss it in the sea? | 6 | ······ |
| Must venom rob the future day | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The ultimate world-man | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Of rare Bushido, code of codes, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The fair heart of Japan? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| "Go, be the guest of Avalon. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Believe me, it lies there | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Behind the mighty gray sea-wall | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where heathen bend in prayer: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Where peasants lift adoring eyes | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To Fuji's crown of snow. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| King Arthur's knights will be your hosts, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So cleanse your heart, and go. | 6 | ······ |
| "And you will find but gardens sweet | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Prepared beyond the seas, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| And you will find but gentlefolk | 8 | ········ |
| Beneath the cherry-trees. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So walk you worthy of your Christ | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Tho church bells do not sound, | 6 | ······ |
| And weave the bands of brotherhood | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On Jimmu Tenno's ground." | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.