Jazz Fantasia

“Jazz Fantasia” uses three similes to express the power of the music. The third stanza opens with these similes in succession:

“Moan like an autumn wind high in the lonesome tree-tops, / moan soft like you wanted somebody terrible, cry like a / racing car slipping away from a motorcycle cop, bang-bang!” (Lines 5-7)

The use of similes to describe music makes sense. Since sounds only sound like sounds, a poet is smart to use figurative language to describe the emotion associated with sounds. The three similes affectively add an expressive element to the sounds, like the emotional feelings music can inspire. The speaker calls for the kind of sound that feels like a lonesome wind, distant and on high. Then the speaker calls for the kind of sound that feels like longing—a kind of soft, desperate sound. Finally, the speaker calls for a loud cry like ecstasy and freedom, like a car making a dramatic turn to evade the authorities. Then “bang-bang!” (Line 7) of the police guns comes through the air, powerful like the banging of drums signaling a downbeat.

These similes imbue the words with an extra musical quality, providing the reader with a deeper understanding of the feelings associated with the music the speaker hears.