Langston Hughes Chapbook

The Weary Blues

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway …
He did a lazy sway …
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—
“Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
And put ma troubles on the shelf.”

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more—
“I got the Weary Blues
And I can’t be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And can’t be satisfied—
I ain’t happy no mo’
And I wish that I had died.”
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

by Langston Hughes

I, Too

I, Too
by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

by Langston Hughes

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

by Langston Hughes

As I Grew Older

It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun—
My dream.

And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose slowly, slowly,
Dimming,
Hiding,
The light of my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky—
The wall.

Shadow.
I am black.

I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.

My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!

by Langston Hughes

Use of Sound

An example of Langston Hughes’ use of sound in his poetry is in the opening lines of “The Weary Blues.”  We see Hughes using assonance here with the repetition of the “o” sound throughout the first stanza.  I’ve italicized the words that have this “o” sound within them to emphasize this.

“Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light”
(“The Weary Blues,” 1-5)

This repetition of the “o” sound is used to create a sense of fatigue and to create a rhythm within the stanza.  This stanza also has rhyme.  The words “tune,” “croon,” and “avenue” all rhyme which gives this stanza a musical quality that fits the subject matter discussed.

A second example of Hughes’ use of sound is in the poem “As I Grew Older” in the lines:

“My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!”
(“As I Grew Older,” 24-27)

The reader hears the speaker telling about his dreams and his struggles and this is emphasized by the short length of these exclamations and the fact that they come one right after the other.  The auditory effect that these lines have come from the exclamation points used throughout.

Langston Hughes uses sound in many forms throughout his poetry to get many different effects.  These effects range from musical rhythms and rhymes to the use of alliteration and assonance.  Hughes effectively uses various literary devices to get the appropriate sound he intends for each poem.

Use of Language

An example of Langston Hughes’ unique use of language comes in the poem “The Weary Blues” with the low diction when the piano man sings.

“Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
And put ma troubles on the shelf.”
(“The Weary Blues,” 19-22)

This use of low diction is meant to emphasize the song of the piano man and indicate his unsophisticated nature.  Hughes does this to show that, although this man might not be the most educated his words hold meaning to Hughes and hopefully to those reading as well.

Another example of the use of language present in Langston Hughes’ poetry is his use of allusions and imagery.  In the lines from “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” Hughes alludes to many different rivers and each one represents a struggle.

“I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.”
(“The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” 4-7)

The Euphrates was the center and lifeblood of ancient Mesopotamia so that made it a place of great conflict.  The Congo is historically one of the most violent areas of the world.  The Nile refers to Moses and his struggle to set the slaves in Egypt free.  And lastly, the Mississippi refers to the struggle to end slavery in America.  These are all places of great struggle and this is something common in Hughes’ poetry.

All of these allusions, unique diction and other devices are key to Hughes’ use of language to attain his goal with his poetry.  The language he uses shapes the tones and connotations of the poems and ultimately the final messages conveyed.

Structure

Langston Hughes often has unique structure that adds depth to his poetry.  Unfortunately this website doesn’t keep the same formatting of the poems that Hughes originally had so with these examples I will include links to where you can see the poems in their original format.

An example of Hughes’ unique structure comes in the poem “I, Too.” This poem’s structure is very thin and stretched out.  Very skeletal and bare.  This structure has the effect of making each word very important and clear.  It forces the reader to get the simple yet important message that this poem conveys.

Another example of a unique structure comes in “The Weary Blues.” Each time the piano man speaks his words are indented and set apart.  This has the effect of emphasizing his words and giving them the sense of lyrics being sung at the time, which is what they are.  It gives these sections the feeling that they are being sung to no one in particular but to anyone who chooses to stop and listen.

Structure is an art in itself when it comes to poetry.  Langston Hughes uses structure to add even deeper meaning to his poems apart from the words themselves.  His intentions range from emphasizing certain lines to breaking the rhythm.

Themes and Major Questions

In any great literature there will be themes and questions that arise.  Langston Hughes has many common themes that stretch across his poetry and into other writers and artists as well.

One common theme that springs up in these poems is the theme of overcoming oppression.  This is a theme that is close to Langston Hughes’ heart, having written his poetry in the middle of the civil rights movement.  An example is the poem “I, Too.” This poem describes the overcoming of the adversity placed on a “darker brother” to become strong and succeed.  This theme is constantly coming up in Langston Hughes’ poetry.

Another example of a theme/major question that Langston Hughes uses throughout his poetry is the theme of exhaustion.  In the poem “The Weary Blues” there are several examples of Hughes referring to being tired.

“He did a lazy sway”

“The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.”

(“The Weary Blues,” 6, 32-35)

This theme also relates to the struggle of overcoming oppression in the sense that Hughes is tired of being oppressed and held down.

Many of the major questions and themes that Hughes brings up in his poetry stem from oppression and struggle, the struggle of his ancestors and of the time he lived in.  This is a common theme for a lot of the art coming out of the Harlem Renaissance.