Critical Comment on ‘The Weary Blues’ by Langston Hughes
The poem, ‘The Weary Blues’ is written by African-American poet Langston Hughes. Through
this paper, I shall critically comment on various aspects of the poem such as the rhyme scheme,
tone, structure and theme of the poem.
The overall structure of the poem is similar to that of Blues. It has a rhythm to it but it seems to
be written in free verse. There is no particular rhyme scheme, although, the entire poem is full of
external rhyme with lines ending in words such as, ‘tune-croon’ and ‘night-light’.
The tone of the poem is mainly that of melancholy. The pianist in the poem seems to be
exasperated by the never-ending troubles and hardships of his life and he expresses his feelings
through his music.
The first stanza of the poem deals mainly with the description of the pianist and his piano. The
speaker of the poem seems to be observing the pianist from a distance. While describing the
scene, the poet has made use of antithesis to show the stark contrast between the pianist and his
piano by using words such as ‘ebony hands’ and ‘ivory keys’. He also uses transferred epithet to
state the poverty of the pianist by writing, ‘He made that poor piano moan with melody.’ The
stanza ends with the pianist singing the first verse of his song. Here the poet has used
African-American English words such as ‘gwine’ and ‘ma’ to show that the Blues originated
from the African-American community and to also show that the pianist is singing for no-one but
himself.
The second stanza begins with the continuation of the song in which the pianist expresses his
wish to die and to leave all his sufferings behind. It ends with the pianist going to sleep
peacefully after what seems like an act of catharsis or purgation.
Langston Hughes tries to show through the poem how the Blues originated from the
African-Americans’ need to rid themselves of all the pain and sorrows of their oppressed lives.
The pianist in the poem could possibly be a representation of the entire community and their
passion for the Blues.