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Before “The Weary Blues” came out in Langston Hughes’ first book, it was published in 1925 by Opportunity, the magazine put out by the Black civil rights organization the Urban League. The poem won the magazine’s top prize in poetry. The publication history of “The Weary Blues” further ties it to the Harlem Renaissance—a period of remarkable Black creativity from the 1920s until the mid-1930s, Opportunity played a critical role in providing a platform to Harlem Renaissance writers like Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, and, of course, Hughes. His poem reflects the top priorities of Harlem Renaissance artists as it supplies an unfiltered glimpse at a Black life in diction and tone congruent with the Black community. The poem’s rhythm displays the influence of jazz and blues on Harlem Renaissance artists, and the singer’s lyrics highlight how Hughes and other artists at the time felt empowered to exhibit the locution often found in their community.
Another literary context for “The Weary Blues” is Modernism. Modernism is typically associated with white writers and poets like Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T. S.
By Langston Hughes
Children’s Rhymes
Langston Hughes
Cora Unashamed
Langston Hughes
Dreams
Langston Hughes
Harlem
Langston Hughes
I look at the world
Langston Hughes
I, Too
Langston Hughes
Let America Be America Again
Langston Hughes
Me and the Mule
Langston Hughes
Mother to Son
Langston Hughes
Mulatto
Langston Hughes
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston
Not Without Laughter
Langston Hughes
Slave on the Block
Langston Hughes
Thank You, M'am
Langston Hughes
The Big Sea
Langston Hughes
Theme for English B
Langston Hughes
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
Langston Hughes
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes
The Ways of White Folks
Langston Hughes
Tired
Langston Hughes