The Weary Blues

“Dreams” by Langston Hughes (1923)

Like the blues singer’s lyrics in “The Weary Blues,” “Dreams” has an identifiable rhyme scheme in which every other line rhymes. Unlike the form of “The Weary Blues,” “Dreams” has an even shape, with the lines held together by two quatrains (four-line stanzas). Additionally, “Dreams” contains broken, forlorn imagery like a “broken-winged bird” and “a barren field.” According to the speaker, such desolation is what happens when “dreams die.” Paired with “The Weary Blues,” “Dreams” helps explain the anguished state of the blues musician. When the blues musician sleeps, he has no dreams. Instead, he’s like a rock or a man that’s dead.

“Lenox Avenue: Midnight” by Langston Hughes (1926)

“Lenox Avenue: Midnight” is another poem featured in The Weary Blues. Like the poem “The Weary Blues,” this poem, as the title indicates, takes place on Lenox Avenue and tries to replicate the sound of music—this time, the focus is on jazz. The speaker connects the “rhythm of life” to “jazz rhythm.” This poem and “The Weary Blues” use atmosphere, with Hughes building the environment of Lenox Avenue with lines like “the rumble of street cars” and “the swish of rain.