Play, dark musician, play—

How almost human sounds your saxophone!

(Somewhere in Africa

An angry lion tosses up a bone.)

Sambo’s a ready scholar

And hides his black skin under a black coat.

Although he wears a collar

Adam’s own apple yet sticks in his throat.

Play, dark musician, play—

I see your imitation diamond flash.

(Once in America

Your fathers howled and writhed beneath the lash.)

How leers the blackamoor,

Exhaling his melodious delight!

Music’s his paramour;

And yours, and mine, since we dance here to-night.

Play, dark musician, play—

Outdo the beast’s roar and the scourged slave’s moan.

Ambassador from U.S.A.,

How almost human sounds your saxophone!