The Congo

“Blues in Stereo” by Langston Hughes (1961)

This late poem from Langston Hughes, for whom Lindsay advocated, also includes performance directions, font changes, and percussive rhythms. This poem also addresses colonialism and the Congo under King Leopold.

“General William Booth Enters Heaven” by Vachel Lindsay (1914)

In another poem intended primarily for performance, Lindsay memorializes General William Booth of the Salvation Army. Like “The Congo,” this poem includes performance and instrumentation directions. The poem also includes a chorus, the repeated line “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?” Lindsay pays tribute by using band instruments and a vocal chorus to create a simulation of Booth’s meeting style.

“The Tropics of New York” by Claude McKay (1922)

Key Harlem Renaissance figure Claude McKay describes a similar experience of transport with a radically different result. The speaker in McKay’s poem, like the speaker of “The Congo,” comes upon a contemporary urban scene and finds himself transported to another culture. McKay’s speaker feels reverence and longing, rather than fear and judgment.

“Flotsam” by Lola Ridge (1918)

Lola Ridge’s cinematic descriptions of the so-called “ghettos” in New York come from the same era as Lindsay’s, but her poems demonstrate more experimental use of language and grittier descriptions of the city.