Oh, shining rivers of the soul!
In a Harlem cabaret
Six long-headed jazzers play.
A dancing girl whose eyes are bold
Lifts high a dress of silken gold.
Oh, singing tree!
Oh, shining rivers of the soul!
Were Eve's eyes
In the first garden
Just a bit too bold?
Was Cleopatra gorgeous
In a gown of gold?
Oh, shining tree!
Oh, silver rivers of the soul!
In a whirling cabaret
Six long-headed jazzers play. "
Hughes speaks of his great love and passion for jazz music and the culture it brings. He mentions Harlem which at the time of Hughes was the center of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes explains how Jazz was not only a genre of music, but a style of life as well. It was a fun, fast paced style of music that still conveyed a point of strong unity and class distinction.
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