Poem analysis the weary blues this speaker gives a detailed description of listening to a blues musician in harlem. This lesson encourages students to write a comparison rhetorical analysis essay on the portrayal of piano players in two pieces of literature. The weary blues won the esteemed literary contest held by the opportunity magazine. The weary blues by langston hughes in the poem, the weary blues by langston hughes, the speaker is telling of his experience listening to the blues. On langston hughess the weary blues one never grows weary of the weary blues. The music of sadness the weary blues, by langston hughes, tells a story of an unnamed narrator recalling an evening of listening to a man sing the blues one night in harlem. The weary blues describes the performance of a blues musician playing in a club on lenox avenue in harlem. Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, i heard a negro play. Hughes wrote the weary blues in free verse with an irregular rhyme scheme, mimicking the natural patterns of speech and music. The weary blues by langston hughes poem reading by. In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone i heard that sing, that old.
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool he played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool. The poem thus reflects on the immense beauty of black artand the immense pain that lies beneath it. Written in 1925, the weary blues was first published in the urban league magazine, opportunity. His first poem published in a nationally known magazine was the negro speaks of rivers, which appeared in crisis in 1921. Langston hughes and the weary blues girl in blue music. Nearly ninety years after its first publication, this celebratory edition of the weary blues reminds us of the stunning achievement of langston hughes, who was just twentyfour at its first appearance. The weary blues by langston hughes textual analysis. This passage is a poem written by langston hughes and it is called the weary blues. An analysis of langston hughes poem the weary blues 4380. The best langston hughes poems to get started with book riot. The weary blues by langston hughes poems academy of.
Langston hughess first book, published by knopf in 1926, is one. The weary blues is also the name of his first poetry collection, which is a wonderful book to introduce anyone to hughess poetry. The speaker in the poem documents the experience of listening to a piano player in harlem play the blues. The childminded south scratching in the dead fires ashes for a negros bones.
In a nutshell, the weary blues is a poem about a musician that wears himself out by singing the blues. The weary blues droning a drowsy syncopated tune, droning a drowsy syncopated tune, the academy of american poets is the largest membershipbased nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. Got the weary blues and cant be satisfied i aint happy no mo and i wish that i had died. The poets blues poetry was influenced by the music he heard during his childhood. November 1926 harriet monroe, malcolm cowley, countee cullen, katherine harrington, robert hillyer, raymond holden, katharine howard, langston hughes, virginia. Down on lenox avenue the other night by the pale dull pallor of an old gas light he did a lazy sway. Langston hughes the weary blues focuses on a musician in upper manhattan. One sees an example of how this unfolds in the weary blues. The poem was written by langston hughes in 1925 during the harlem renaissance, a period of time when africanamerican artists, musicians, and writers enjoyed appreciation and. The poem was written by langston hughes in 1925 during the harlem renaissance, a period of time when africanamerican artists, musicians, and writers enjoyed appreciation and popular acceptance. With the help of certain poetic and acoustic techniques, the poem manages to evoke the same lamenting and woeful tone and mood of blues music.
Elizabeth bishop the diary of helena morley book cover. The poem was awarded as the best poem of the year by opportunity magazine where it was first published in 1925. Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africahughes. With his ebony hands on each ivory key he made that poor piano moan with melody. The poem meditates on the way that the song channels the suffering and injustice of the black experience in america, transforming that suffering into something beautiful and cathartic. On langston hughess the weary blues academy of american poets.
Writing blues poetry can be inherently difficult and hughes was. In the weary blues, langston hughes uses negative language to create a generally discouraging atmosphere. The musical instrument of the whites is taken over by a black, for, music is universal. Much of the power of the blues lies more in its language, however, than in its form. This musician was playing a slow blues song with all his body and soul. Langston hughes was only 18, a month out of high school, when he wrote his first great poem, the negro speaks of rivers. He played a few chords then he sang some more i got the weary. The weary blues is one of the blues poems written by langston hughes, one of the most imminent poets of harlem renaissance. The singer stopped playing and went to bed while the weary blues echoed through his head. The weary blues its language and the powerful message. This question refers to the selection the weary blues. If you happen to have a copy, it is an excellent way to introduce it to students.
The weary blues by hughes, langston and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The piece mimics the tone and form of blues music and uses free verse and closely resembles spoken english. The poem was included in hughes first book, a collection of poems, also entitled. In may 1925, his first book the weary blues, won first prize in poetry in a major literary contest ran by opportunity, the magazine of the urban league. As his black hands touch the white keys, the accepted western sound of the piano and. The poem, the weary blues, by langston hughes describes the performance of a blues musician playing in a club on lenox avenue in harlem. Throughout the poem, several literary devices are used to guide. In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone i heard that negro sing, that old piano moan aint got nobody in all this world, aint got nobody but ma self. The weary blues a poem about the importance of music and the blues in everyday life is a signature work of langston hughes, the harlem renaissance writer whose poetry helped change the way art created by african americans was viewed, and influenced the writers of the beat generation. He was the first to realize the blues are plural to see in their complicated irony and earthy tone the potential to present a folk feeling both tragic and comic, one uniquely african american, which is to say, american. The relentless dark imagery makes the reader overlook an underlying message, as the poem actually encourages its readers to push against any obstacles in their way. The weary blues poem summary and analysis litcharts. Poetic analysis of the weary blues by langston hughes 1229 words 5 pages. In the weary blues what words set a tone for the poem what is the tone how does this tone compare to that of duke ellingtons mood indigo.
In 1925, he was awarded the first prize for poetry from the magazine opportunity for the weary blues, which gave its title to this, his first book of poems. The weary blues poem by langston hughes poem hunter. Beginning with the opening proem prologue poem i am a negro. The weary blues american poems analysis, themes, meaning. The weary blues written by langston hughes has a gloomy tone because it transmits melancholy through the blues and the black persons description playing the piano.
Yet true to hughes style there is a ray of hope and positivity in the lines. Is gwine to quit ma frownin and put ma troubles on the shelf. The poem was included in hughes first book, a collection of poems, also entitled the weary blues. Africanamerican poet, langston hughes recites his poem, the weary blues 1925 to jazz accompaniment with the doug parker band on the cbut cbc vancouver program the 7. The weary blues is among the first works of langston hughes and is a benchmark in history of africanamerican poetic history. In the weary blues what words set a tone for the poem what. Essay on langston hughes the weary blues 1421 words. The weary blues by langston hughes by jayna raines on prezi. Written in 1925, the melancholy poem is set in a harlem bar where a piano player plays the blues, and. The weary blues by langston hughes, hardcover barnes. Not much is any better than langston hughes, poetry, and jazz. Students learn about the context for langston hughes poem, the weary blues and james baldwins short story, sonnys blues.
Jazz began as the blues, and as jazz poetry analyst jeffrey allen writes, you can have the blues without jazz, but no jazz without the blues. How does the message of the blues singers first verse contrast with the second verse in the. A few years later, knopf published his collection the weary blues. Analysis, meaning and summary of langston hughess poem the weary.
The speaker starts to really get into the sad music. Line 67 literary devices tone s a man listening to blues from his apartment. The central narrative voice describes an african american or negro, in this 1923 poem, in harlem, new york. The weary blues is a poem by american poet langston hughes. The weary blues by langston hughes droning a drowsy syncopated tune, rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, i heard a negro play. It creatively displays the expression of the african americans struggle and perseverance through the use of songs and music. Hughes was in fact the first to write poetry in the blues form. Langston hughes reads the weary blues jerry jazz musician. Really an extension of the new negro movement that began toward the start of the twentieth century. Unanswered questions eight turns of a screw advance it 4. The weary blues is the title of a ragtime song that artie matthews wrote in 1915. His first book of poems, the weary blues 1926, won him all kinds of awards and. The tone of the poem is that of despondency through the singer in the poem. Langston hughes the weary blues on cbut, 1958 youtube.
Critical analysis of the poem the weary blues by langston. At the same time, the collection is also filled with poems about. As he plays, the speaker observes his body movement and the tone of his voice. Starting at line 19, we get the first verse to the song. In langston hughess the weary blues, the speaker describes a blues singer who sings a song about how he aint got nobody in all this world, aint got nobody but ma self. Hughes uses a somber tone, depressed voice, syntax and imagery as language styles to convey a great deal of suffering that was occurring in harlem during the mid1900. Analysis of the poem the weary blues 539 words bartleby.
It was awarded the magazines prize for best poem of the year. This poem has a mournful tone and tempo of blues due to its diction, repetitive lines and inclusion of blues lyrics thus, giving the reader an appreciation of the state of mind of the blues musician in the poem. The weary blues by langston hughes tone s rocking back and forth to a mellow croon line 2 he did a lazy sway. History behind the poem the weary blues takes place at an old harlem bar on lenox avenue. Langston hughess first book, published by knopf in 1926, is one of the high points of modernism and of what has come to be called the harlem renaissancethat flowering of african american literature and culture in the publics consciousness. On langston hughess the weary blues academy of american. More on hughess life a detailed biography of langston hughes from the poetry foundation.
The weary blues takes place at an old harlem bar on lenox avenue. The poem describes a black blues singer playing in a bar in harlem late into the night, whose music channels the pain of living in a racist society. This essay will be a critical appreciation of this poem in which i will discuss it in the context. Sound patterns of hughes the weary blues essay 1442 words. It includes some of his very wellknown poems, such as the negro speaks of rivers and cross, and is filled with poetry that delves into the stark, painful realities of african american experiences. The poem begins with a speaker telling someone about a piano player he heard a couple nights ago. Hughes intentionally makes the tone of the entire poem depressing in order to mimic the sound of the blues. You can read the full text of the weary blues here. In langston hughess poem titled the weary blues, the speaker describes an evening spent listening to a blues musician in lenox avenue, harlem. Hughess life and work were enormously influential during the harlem renaissance of the 1920s, alongside those of his contemporaries, zora neale hurston, wallace thurman, claude mckay, countee cullen, richard bruce nugent, and aaron douglas. Poetic analysis of the weary blues by langston hughes langston hughes was truly able to make a name for himself through the reaction he gained from creating the revolutionary collection of poems the weary blues in 1926 where this poem with the same title can be found. The weary blues by langston hughes poetry foundation.
1315 253 56 326 991 103 146 1070 811 1102 868 354 23 491 216 1101 1037 114 705 673 474 1286 762 279 506 870 1187 1375 1438 94 1380 154 919 620 755 1112 1518 310 480 194 1371 509 595 991 247 786 525