Question

Give the Summary of Jazz Poem Two ?

Answer 1

Carl Wendall Hines Jr. wrote Jazz poem 1 & 2. For students reference Jazz poem 1 is given under. ‘Yeah, here I am, standing at the crest of a tallest with a trumpet in my hand and dark glasses on. Bearded & bereted 1 proudly stand! But there are no eyes to see me. I send down cool sounds! But there are no ears to hear me. My lips they quiver in aether-emptiness! There are no hearts love who me. Surely though through nights grey fog mist of delusion and dream and the rivers of tears that flow like gelatin Soul-Juice some apathetic bearer of paranoidic peyote vision (or some other source of, inspiration) shall hear the song 1 play.

Shall see the beard and beret, shall become inflamed beyond all hope with emotion s everlasting fire and join me in eternal peace. And but yet well who knows ?’ The old Jazz musician was also similar to that of Ancient Mariner in Coleridge s poem. He had no interest or enthusiasm in the present world. He had a pathetic figure, but commanding artist. He had the power to make people listen. This was a gift. He was silent speech but eloquent in music. He was very good at expressing his thoughts through music.

He stood at the crest of the tallest hill. He was old and had a wrinkled face. He had no interest in life. His head was turned downward, he closed his eyes. He wore an old faded blue shirt. That shirt was dark with sweat, the tie was torn. The jacket was old and it could not hold his sagging (hanging) stomach. He wore the old shoes which had papers inside. His face was not shaved. One could see the pain in each wrinkle of his face.

He alone stood with his head down and eyes closed. He wore an old alto saxophone and chanting some religious music in low voice. That old saxophone was hanging from his neck by a wire coat hanger. He wanted to tell that he was a Black Man. He had been sent here to preach the Black Gospel of Jazz. He was preaching it with words by loud musical sound. When he started to preach, he was transformed into a Bird. That Bird gathers its wings and flies high, high and higher until it flies away. Otherwise, he comes back to find himself as a Black man again.

Answer 2

The poem ‘Jazz Poem Two’ by Carl Wendall Hines, Jr. is a poem written in free verse. The poem has a clear division in thought between the first 30 and last 17 lines. If the first 30 lines describe the old, worn-out state of a Jazz musician, the last 17 lines speak about his transformation from a pathetic figure to a powerful musician. Just as he can transform himself with the power of music, he can transform the world around him with his preaching of Black Gospel in Jazz. With his eloquent music he can make people listen to him.

When he puts the Saxophone to his lips and produces music, he ceases to be a Black Man, even a Man and turns into a bird with wings. The wings can be taken as a metaphor for imagination and creativity. Empowered with the wings he soars higher and higher and can fly away from the miseries of the world. But then the poet is not so sure of this. He places before the readers the two possibilities – the musician escaping the burden or coming back to his drab existence as a Black Man again.

The poem can be read with different interpretations. On the one hand, it can be taken as a poem that speaks about the power of music and the freedom of spirit that is expressed in the Jazz music. On the other hand, it can be about the pathetic condition of the blacks and their attempts to make the world listen to them, their efforts to show to the world what is morally right and their inability to sustain and their tragic relapse into the slavish existence. The implication can also be taken as the man enjoying all the rights of a civil society like a free bird, or being denied it, and being the victim of discriminatory treatment.