An Analysis Of PoBoy Blues By Langston Hughes - 768 Words

The poem â€Å"Po’ Boy Blues† was composed by Langston Hughes during 1926, his early writing era. His poetry was inspired by his family’s history, a history full of abandonment, betrayal, and violence. His father abandoned him seeking to find a life less confrontational to a black man, leaving Langston Hughes to face being raised by his grandmother in the very same hostile environment his father sought to escape. His mother betrayed him as she never embraced him with a mother’s love not only once leaving him as a young child, but twice when he came to live with her after his grandmother died. His grandmother immersed Langston in his family’s dark history, sometimes laying the â€Å"bullet ridden shawl† on him from where his grandfather died†¦show more content†¦Just repeating these words causes the reader to feel the â€Å"weariness† and heavy burden pressing upon the speaker. Often when the lines are repeated the image is cem ented in the readers’ mind as words like â€Å"Sunshine seemed like gold† (line 2) are identifiable to everyone as a picture of happiness. Symbolism can be found in the lines â€Å"Since I come up North de / Whole damn world’s turned cold† (5-6), referring to his expectations of success not coming true. Inferring the North was a wonderful place to live until he arrived. (frag..must fix) The poem, â€Å"Po’ Boy Blues† uses rhyme in the fourth and sixth lines of each stanza. In the first stanza(,) rhyme is used to point out the emotional state of the speakers outlook, â€Å"Sunshine seemed like gold,† (line 4) and â€Å"Whole damn world’s turned cold,† (line 5). The poet used this method again in stanza 3 to compare his experience in love; â€Å"A gal I thought was kind,† (line 16) and â€Å"An’ almost lose ma mind.† (line 17). Finally he shows us his complete despair in stanza 4; â€Å"Early, early in de morn† (line 22) and â€Å"I wish I’d never been born† (line 24). This rhyme helps to flow the emotion from the speaker to the reader. The reader senses the speaker’s complete lack of hope(,) he has given up on life. Hughes’s use of alliteration throughout his poem, â€Å"Sunshine seemed like gold. / Since I come up North de /