The weary blues quotes by langston hughes goodreads. Carl van vechtens introduction to the volume gives a sense of hughes early life. Complete analysis of the weary blues by langston hughes. The weary blues by langston hughes poems academy of. This performance takes place in a club in harlem, a segregated neighborhood in new york city. Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africahughes spoke directly, intimately, and powerfully of. Mullen, hughes called the weary blues his lucky poem because it placed first in a. One of the blues lyrics reads aint got nobody but ma self. The poem was included in hughes first book, a collection of poems, also entitled the weary blues. The weary blues is one of langston hughess blues poems. It was awarded the magazines prize for best poem of the year. During his lifetime, hughes wrote countless poetry, plays, short stories, and novels, and was known for writing about the struggles. The weary blues describes the performance of a blues musician playing in a club on lenox avenue in harlem.
By 1923, the twentytwoyearold langston hughes had traveled half the globe, dropped out of columbia university, and written some pretty kickin poems. 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. Langston hughes the weary blues on cbut, 1958 youtube. The poem was awarded as the best poem of the year by opportunity magazine where it was first published in 1925. Langston hughes poem, the weary blues, is no exception. Weary blues also referred to as the weary blues is an album by american poet langston hughes reciting over jazz composed and arranged by charles mingus and leonard feather. Writing blues poetry can be inherently difficult and hughes was. The weary blues can be read as a defense of blues music as art, but it is also a defense of itself as art. Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africahughes spoke directly, intimately, and. The poem was included in hughes first book, a collection of poems, also.
Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africa. Langstons love for black americans is evident throughout all his catalogue of work from essays, short stories novels, and plays as well as poetry. The speaker in the weary blues never reveals to us who he actually is. Langston hughes reads the weary blues jerry jazz musician. Originally from the midwest, hughess one year at columbia brought him to harlem, new york at just the right time for a hip, young. Feb 10, 2015 the weary blues 1926 was hughes 1902 1967 first published book of poetry and is the work of a young man of twentythree.
After graduation from high school, he spent a year in mexico with his father, then a year studying at columbia university. Down on lenox avenue the other night by the pale dull pallor of an old gas light. The collected poems of langston hughes book by langston hughes. And as your eye bounces from line to line, you can almost hear the harmonica in your head. But the weary blues is the first poem for which langston hughes got an award. Signed langston hughes the weary blues first edition, 1935. The album was recorded in 1958 and first released on the mgm label.
Writing blues poetry can be inherently difficult and hughes was among one of the first to have toyed with this form. Jan 20, 2007 the weary blues in this classic poem by langston hughes we feel the pride he had in his people juxtaposed with the sadness he felt in the hardships they faced and endured. Beginning with the opening proem prologue poemi am a negro. Langstons love for black americans is evident throughout all his catalogue of work from essays, short stories novels, and plays as. Langston hughes was born in joplin, missouri, in 1902. Written in 1925, the weary blues was first published in the urban league magazine, opportunity. Introducing langston hughes to the reader carl van vechten xxi. The weary blues is about a piano player hughes knew in harlem. I had read collections of hughes poems some time ago but was largely familiar with him through his underappreciated autobiographical novel, not without laughter. The weary blues poem summary and analysis litcharts.
Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africahughes spoke directly. A poet, novelist, fiction writer, and playwright, langston hughes is known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in america from the twenties through the sixties and was important in shaping the artistic contributions of the harlem renaissance. Feb 10, 2015 his first poem published in a nationally known magazine was the negro speaks of rivers, which appeared in crisis in 1921. The weary blues langston huges by hanalei lewine on prezi.
Hughes use of consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, and rhyme in the weary blues. Written in 1925, the melancholy poem is set in a harlem bar where a piano player plays the blues, and. The weary blues quotes showing 16 of 6 the lazy, laughing south. Dust jacket designed by the mexican illustrator and writer miguel covarrubias for langston hughess the weary blues 1926, a book of experimental poetry. Langston hughes handwritten presentation note to ms. After its publication, the book won several awards, and the prize money allowed hughes to complete his college education in lincoln, pennsylvania. The weary blues by langston hughes textual analysis. Who is the speaker in the weary blues by langston hughes. The collected poems of langston hughes book by langston. Langston hughes s the weary blues, first published in 1925, describes a black piano player performing a slow, sad blues song. A beautiful new edition of this beloved poets first collection, or. 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.
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. The title of this book is the weary blues and it was written by langston hughes. The weary blues by hughes, langston and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The upbeat poem the weary blues is the first poem hughes won an award for unlike most of the poems of its time, this masterpiece does not have a strict rhyme pattern or outline, yet still. The weary blues is a poem by american poet langston hughes. The sound qualities that make up hughes work are intricate, yet quite apparent. On todays program were going to sample some of the tracks of the weary blues, a recording from verve records. So begins the weary blues, a lyrical poem written by langston hughes, a leading contributor to the harlem renaissance movement, and one of the greatest and most prolific writers in american literary history. A poem about the life of a poor boy, included in hughess debut poetry collection, the weary blues, and in the dream keeper, poboy blueslike a lot of the poets workwas written in a lyrical form. Beginning with the opening proem prologue poem i am a negro. The weary blues is one of the blues poems written by langston hughes, one of the most imminent poets of harlem renaissance. Nearly ninety years after its first publication, this celebratory edition of the weary blues reminds us of the stunning achievement of langston hughes.
The weary blues 9780385352970 by hughes, langston and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. A very short introduction 2016 inspired me to revisit the poetry of langston hughes. Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africahughes spoke directly, intimately. It was published by knopf and has a total of 128 pages in the book. The weary blues 1926 was hughes 1902 1967 first published book of poetry and is the work of a young man of twentythree. His first poem published in a nationally known magazine was the negro speaks of rivers, which appeared in crisis in 1921. So when writing a blues poem, hughess challenge was to take a seemingly simple musical form and show how it can speak to the fullness and depth of the human experience. More about this poem the weary blues by langston hughes about this poet langston hughes was a central figure in the harlem renaissance, the flowering of black intellectual, literary, and artistic life that took place in the 1920s in a number of american cities, particularly harlem.
Langston hughes was just twentyfour years old when his debut poetry collectionthe weary blues was published in 1926. May 11, 2015 so when writing a blues poem, hughess challenge was to take a seemingly simple musical form and show how it can speak to the fullness and depth of the human experience. Langston hughes spent a lot of time trying to write poetry that would be accepted as art, but not at the expense of abandoning his culture. The weary blues by langston hughes, hardcover barnes. Apr 16, 20 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 oclock show in 1958. Jun 03, 2014 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. Langston hughess the weary blues, first published in 1925, describes a black piano player performing a slow, sad blues song. Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africa hughes. Im joined by saxophonist and composer charles girard and by poet and multimedia performer holly bass. The blues, a type of jazz, also follows this similar style. Droning a drowsy syncopated tune rocking back and forth to a mellow croon i heard a negro play. Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africa hughes spoke directly, intimately, and. The weary blues by langston hughes droning a drowsy syncopated tune, rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, i heard a negro play. However, we know that he is involved to an extent in the jazz scene on lenox avenue.
The poem meditates on the way that the song channels the suffering and injustice of the black experience in america. More langston hughes sign up for poemaday receive a new poem in your inbox daily. Black as the night is black, black like the depths of my africahughes spoke directly, intimately, and powerfully of the. The poem was written by langston hughes in 1925 during the harlem renaissance, a period of time when africanamerican artists. 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. The weary blues in this classic poem by langston hughes we feel the pride he had in his people juxtaposed with the sadness he felt in the hardships they. Carl van vetchen truncated some of the poem in his introduction to the the weary blues, the first book by hughes. Johnson on the front blank endpaper reads for josephine johnson, with sincere greetings langston hughes st. It appears in the collection of poetry by the same name, which was published in 1926 not long after hughes had moved to harlem and immersed himself in the flourishing arts and culture scene there. The weary blues is one of langston hughes s blues poems. He achieves this in his famous 1925 poem, the weary blues, in which he tells the story of coming across a blues pianist playing and singing on harlems lenox avenue.