Literary Technique Analysis for "The Weary Blues"
Zakary Houtrides
Professor Snowberger
English Composition 2
15 May 2013
Literary Technique Poem Analysis The imagery in Langston Hughes’ poem “The Weary Blues” explains the theme of dejection and the relief that music can bring. In the first line the words droning and drowsy appear, immediately reflecting the tone of tiredness first stated in the poem’s title. These two words, droning and drowsy, describe the blues, the type of music the narrator is hearing. Hughes’ imagery is further reinforced by his description of the ambient light as a “pale dull pallor of an old gas light” (5). An old gas light, giving off a faint glow from behind dirty and yellowing glass, helps illuminate the weariness of the blues player as he does a lazy sway to his weary blues. Everything described in the poem is melancholy. The “poor piano moan[s] with melody” (10), the stool is rickety, and the tune is a sad and raggy one. The contrast between of black and white lends itself to the mood with phrases like “ebony hands on each ivory key” (9). The “Sweet Blues! Coming from a black man’s soul!” (Hughes, 14-15) must weigh heavily on the narrator as he listens to the lyrics and watches the pianist do his lazy sway. In the blues singer’s lyrics he sings of loneliness and how he has no one in the world. He tries to overcome those feelings with lyrics expressing his wishes to quit frowning and to “put his troubles on the shelf” (22). A few thumps of his foot on the floor and he begins to sing again of his sorrow that he cannot seem to escape. He croons of his weariness, his unhappiness, and his wish that he had died. Because he cannot escape his dejection, the blues singer plays his song deep into the night. He plays his song until “The stars went out and so did the moon” (32). It took him quite some time for his music to help soothe him. It took the blues player many repetitions until his own “Weary Blues echoed through his head” (34). Even though he was tired already, he continued to
Professor Snowberger
English Composition 2
15 May 2013
Literary Technique Poem Analysis The imagery in Langston Hughes’ poem “The Weary Blues” explains the theme of dejection and the relief that music can bring. In the first line the words droning and drowsy appear, immediately reflecting the tone of tiredness first stated in the poem’s title. These two words, droning and drowsy, describe the blues, the type of music the narrator is hearing. Hughes’ imagery is further reinforced by his description of the ambient light as a “pale dull pallor of an old gas light” (5). An old gas light, giving off a faint glow from behind dirty and yellowing glass, helps illuminate the weariness of the blues player as he does a lazy sway to his weary blues. Everything described in the poem is melancholy. The “poor piano moan[s] with melody” (10), the stool is rickety, and the tune is a sad and raggy one. The contrast between of black and white lends itself to the mood with phrases like “ebony hands on each ivory key” (9). The “Sweet Blues! Coming from a black man’s soul!” (Hughes, 14-15) must weigh heavily on the narrator as he listens to the lyrics and watches the pianist do his lazy sway. In the blues singer’s lyrics he sings of loneliness and how he has no one in the world. He tries to overcome those feelings with lyrics expressing his wishes to quit frowning and to “put his troubles on the shelf” (22). A few thumps of his foot on the floor and he begins to sing again of his sorrow that he cannot seem to escape. He croons of his weariness, his unhappiness, and his wish that he had died. Because he cannot escape his dejection, the blues singer plays his song deep into the night. He plays his song until “The stars went out and so did the moon” (32). It took him quite some time for his music to help soothe him. It took the blues player many repetitions until his own “Weary Blues echoed through his head” (34). Even though he was tired already, he continued to
Cited: Hughes, Langston. “The Weary Blues.” Literature and the Writing Process. Eds. McMahan, Elizabeth et al. Pearson, 2011. 528-529. Print.