This poem comes from the first section of
The Congo and Other Poems which are poems intended to be read aloud, or chanted.
To be intoned, all but the two italicized lines, which are to be spoken
in a snappy, matter-of-fact way.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.
Here lies a kitten good, who kept
A kitten's proper place.
He stole no
pantry eatables,
Nor
scratched the baby's face.
He let the alley-cats alone.
He had no yowling vice.
His shirt was always laundried well,
He freed the house of mice.
Until his death he had not caused
His little mistress tears,
He wore his ribbon prettily,
He washed behind his ears.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong.
-Vachel Lindsay
The Congo and Other Poems 1914.