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.
Explication
This poem describes a night listening to jazz in Harlem. This poem has the rhythm and somber tone of blues music. The rhythm, diction and rhyme add to the musical sound of the poem.
The first three lines describe the connection between the singer and the audience.
Music served as a mode of expression which could be shared. It became an integral part of African-American culture during and after the Harlem Renaissance.
The contrast in the line “…his ebony hands on each ivory key” not only contributes to the imagery in the poem but also to the greater meaning. This suggests a sort of cultural juxtaposition, as though the black musicians have taken an instrument from white Western culture and used it to express themselves. This idea that African American people who were at that time heavily oppressed by whites relied on a piece of their culture to find artistic freedom illustrates the painful irony of black/white relations at the time.
The lyrics of the man’s song reflect the challenges he faces in trying to fit into a society that does not accept him. He suggests that he would rather die than have to live under the crushing oppression of white society.
Syncopated: a shift of accent in a musical composition that occurs when a normally weak beat is stressed; when an expected rhythm is modified in an unexpected way. Syncopation in music might be analogous to situational irony in literature when something other than what would be expected or logical happens.
Maddie
ReplyDeleteThe Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
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.
Explication
This poem describes a night listening to jazz in Harlem. This poem has the rhythm and somber tone of blues music. The rhythm, diction and rhyme add to the musical sound of the poem.
The first three lines describe the connection between the singer and the audience.
Music served as a mode of expression which could be shared. It became an integral part of African-American culture during and after the Harlem Renaissance.
The contrast in the line “…his ebony hands on each ivory key” not only contributes to the imagery in the poem but also to the greater meaning. This suggests a sort of cultural juxtaposition, as though the black musicians have taken an instrument from white Western culture and used it to express themselves. This idea that African American people who were at that time heavily oppressed by whites relied on a piece of their culture to find artistic freedom illustrates the painful irony of black/white relations at the time.
The lyrics of the man’s song reflect the challenges he faces in trying to fit into a society that does not accept him. He suggests that he would rather die than have to live under the crushing oppression of white society.
Syncopated: a shift of accent in a musical composition that occurs when a normally weak beat is stressed; when an expected rhythm is modified in an unexpected way. Syncopation in music might be analogous to situational irony in literature when something other than what would be expected or logical happens.