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Jazz Poetry

Lyric and Short Poetic Forms

Jazz poetry is poetry that "demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation" or poetry that takes jazz music, musicians, or the jazz milieu as its subject, and is designed to be performed. Some critics consider it a distinct genre though others consider the term to be merely descriptive.

Facts
Partially Attested
Place of Origin
Harlem Renaissance, United States 1
Source says jazz poetry was conceived in the 1920s by African Americans and developed with the Harlem Renaissance; no explicit place of origin is stated.
Notable Example
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes 1
Defining Trait
Demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation, or takes jazz music, musicians, or the jazz milieu as its subject 1
Connections

Form Of Genre

Poetry, Genres
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Jazz poetry
  • The Harlem Renaissance, paragraph 1
    It was with the advent of the Harlem Renaissance that jazz poetry developed into what it is today
  • The Harlem Renaissance, paragraph 2
    such as "The Weary Blues", sound almost exactly like popular jazz and blues songs of the period
  • Lead, sentence 1
    demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation
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