African Dance From Africa

The low beating of the tom-toms,

   The slow beating of the tom-toms,

   Low … slow

   Slow … low-

Stirs your blood.

Dance!

A night-veiled girl

   Whirls softly into a

   Circle of light.

Whirls softly … slowly,

Like a wisp of smoke around the fire-

   And the tom-toms beat,

   And the tom-toms beat,

And the low beating of the tom-toms

   Stirs your blood.

Langston Hughes