Jazz Fantasia

Published at the beginning of the Jazz Age, “Jazz Fantasia” is more a precursor than a retrospective. The poem is unique in its celebration of the new art form before it became all the rage in the 1920s. Sandburg’s celebration of jazz shows his progressive mindset and foresight. He was almost 40 when he wrote the poem, so his ability to see the value and artistry in something that older generations would deride speaks to his youthful mindset and connection to societal trends.

In many ways, the age of jazz represents an innocence typical of the time. Wedged between World War I and the Great Depression, historians often regard the Jazz Age as a sort of party that rejected the cold reality of the time—including the massive injustices faced by African Americans, the working class, and other minority groups. Sandburg’s poem embraces the romantic notion of the time. It celebrates the same images celebrated in The Great Gatsby (1925), including the youthful party scene, jazz music, sex, alcohol, and general revelry.

But unlike The Great Gatsby, “Jazz Fantasia” does not examine the dark side of the era. Instead, the poem connects the liveliness of jazz with more spiritual images of nature and the progression of time, expressed in the last stanza.