Langston Hughes was an author and a poet who was heavily influenced by blues music and incorporated it into his style of poetry. In his poem "The Weary Blues," he creates a different form of poetry that dives into the histories and experiences of African-Americans. According to The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, blues is a form of folk music, characterized by slow, melancholy lyrics and the use of flatted “blue notes,” that arose in African-American communities in the American South in the late nineteenth century after emancipation from slavery. He used this form of folk music in his poetry by fusing the characteristics of blues music with literary poetic devices. His desire was to highlight these experiences of African-Americans, which were usually about depression, struggle and the determination to overcome such adversity.
In Langston Hughes poem, “The Weary Blues,” the main character is a blues singer and musician. Hughes stresses how the soul of a black man is revived through the tunes of blues music after suppressing particular experiences that could have been difficult to revisit. He also stresses how the beats or accents in the rhythm of the tunes can be displaced or manipulated when sung by a black man. Performing this action allows the blues singer to increase the effect of his tone and the message he wishes to portray to his audience. Blues lyrics often transport its meaning into the bodies of the people who hear or sing it causing them to move or dance. While singing and playing the piano, the tapping of the Negro’s foot represents the pulsing rhythm of the lyrics and the chords working simultaneously. The Negro's foot thumping even serves as a replica of the beats that are heard in blues music.
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The description of the Negro with his hands on the piano keys invites the reader into the scene as a spectator alongside Hughes. The reader can assume that the speakers’ perspective of ebony hands on ivory keys is the foundation of blues music. Blues music was created and founded by African-Americans and its origin remains in the rural South. Also depicting the blues singer as standing alone on stage with an instrument emphasizes the melancholic lyrics that he sings. It also represents the feelings of loneliness and sorrow that the singer experiences while he performs onstage by himself. The moans of the piano imitate the moans of the singer, which signify the physical and mental suffering that is usually addressed in blues music.
The singer embodies the elements of blues music such as the blue notes, the lyrics, the rhythm and the emotions of sadness and worry. The combination of these elements in blues music overwhelms the singer, causing him to act foolishly during his performance. The singer's swaying emphasizes the power that blues music has over the body of the musician and his emotions that cannot be contained. Hughes compares the singer to sleeping like a rock or a dead man to indicate how relieved the musician is from singing the blues. Performing the blues allows the singer to express his strong emotions and release those emotional tensions in a healthy and creative way.
"The Weary Blues" explains how powerful music can be for the performer and the people in the audience. Reading this poem was important to me because it portrayed how blues music affects the singer and audience physically and emotionally. It also portrayed how music evokes movement and how the idea of a tune being sung from someone can be captivating, yet upsetting due to the heartbreaking stories that are told. Hughes transformed the elements of blues music into poetic form the same way the singer transformed his emotions into the elements of blues music. Music grants singers and musicians with the opportunity to discuss such experiences through song. It gives them a coping mechanism to survive multiple hardships while giving them hope for a better chance at life. Overall, Hughes remarkably introduces the elements of blues music by describing the tone, tunes, lyrics, and movement of the blues singer to ensure his readers of the power of music.
