luce (cry baby)'s Reviews > The Weary Blues

It might be unimaginative to use a descriptor such as ‘lyrical’ to describe a poetry collection but I can’t help finding lyrical to perfectly sum up The Weary Blues. Some of the poems read like time capsules, or snapshots, that in just a few verses manage to capture the zeitgeist of the 1920s. Langston Hughes hones in particular on the experiences of Black Americans, and he does so both with joy and sorrow. Some of the poems are full of zing, as they are populated by dancers, lovers, and music. Others are more contemplative, as Hughes writes about history and the continued social injustices experienced by his community. While many of his poems are playful and thrumming with energy, some are startling for their seeming simplicity. I found myself loving those latter ones in particular.
In these poems Hughes experiments with his voice and style and the result is a multivalent collection; while some poems did come across as more 'finely tuned' than others, I found myself charmed by his collection and look forward to reading more of his poems.