Po' Boy Blues
Po' Boy Blues - context Summary
Migration and Urban Hardship
Langston Hughes's "Po' Boy Blues" uses a blues narrator to express the shock of moving from the warm familiarity of the South to a colder, harsher North. The speaker recounts lost innocence, a deceptive romantic encounter that costs him money and sanity, and persistent weariness. The poem captures migration-related dislocation, economic hardship, and emotional exhaustion in spare, repetitive lines that echo blues song forms.
Read Complete AnalysesWhen I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. Since I come up North de Whole damn world's turned cold. I was a good boy, Never done no wrong. Yes, I was a good boy, Never done no wrong, But this world is weary An' de road is hard an' long. I fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. Fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. She made me lose ma money An' almost lose ma mind. Weary, weary, Weary early in de morn. Weary, weary, Early, early in de morn. I's so weary I wish I'd never been born.
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