As a specimen, I have tried to set the following words [[259]]to music, supposing a ranger going to battle, and thus taking leave of his girl:
Oan bus adiosi-o da so adiosso me de-go me loby so fighty me man o
One buss good-by o ’tis so good-by girl I must go I love for to fight like a man o
Amimba me dego na boosy o da so adiosso me do go.
Amimba I go to the woods o ’tis so good-by girl, I must go.
[ [[audio/mpeg]] | [MuseScore] ]
Such is their vocal melody; and of their instrumental music, and dancing, which is perfectly to time, I shall speak hereafter, having already given a short account of that which is practised by the Loango negroes. That these people are neither divested of a good ear, nor poetical genius, has been frequently proved, when they have had the advantages of a good education. Amongst others, Phillis Wheatley, who was a slave at Boston in New England, learned the Latin language, and wrote thirty-eight elegant pieces of poetry on different subjects, which were published in 1773. As a specimen, I cannot refrain here inserting the following extract from that entitled, “Thoughts on Imagination.”
“Now here, now there, the roving fancy flies,
Till some lov’d object strikes her wand’ring eyes,
Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
And soft captivity invades the mind.