Movement Background: After World War 1 African Americans in the North found a way to express themselves and celebrate their heritage through poetry. One poet of the Harlem Renaissance was Countee Cullen who wrote of god giving African Americans the blessings he did. The Harlem Renaissance influenced writers that gave readers an insight into the life of African Americans in the 1900's. Another poet of the Harlem Renaissance was Claude Mckay, who wrote about the anger and egos that African Americans had.
Poetry Analysis: The Weary Blues mentions at the beginning he describes a piano player he heard a couple nights back. The player uses his body and soul to play the slow blues. Starting at line 19 you get the first verse to the song, "Ain't got nobody in all this world, Ain't got nobody but ma self...." The player mentions how even though he's miserable he is going to put his troubles aside. Then he talks about how he wish he were dead because he is not happy anymore. He states, 'I ain't happy no mo'/And I wish that I had died." He repeats "He did a lazy sway" to portray a back and forth gesture. When Langston Hughes says the phrase "down on Lenox Avenue" he tries to write how people talked at the time. As Langston Hughes talks about it you can picture a man on an old stool under a dull street light playing the piano. 'He slept like a rock or a man that's dead." He uses a simile to show how soundly and deeply he slept.
Literary Devices: The poem Weary Blues has multiple literary devices. Its only two I'm going to get into which are onomatopoeia and simile. The author uses onomatopoeia when he states, "Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor." This device is used to create hoe the player was when he was playing the music and how his foot sounded when it hit the floor. Then the author uses a simile when he mentions, "He slept like a rock or a man that's dead." He uses the simile to compare how the man slept to something that is motionless to show how soundly and deeply the man slept.