Poetry That's Got the Blues

Beginning in the 1920s, poetry began to expand from free verse and rhyming to certain types of poetry. A huge emergence of poetry came from the Motown movement and from Detroit: the Blues became not just a genre of music, but a type of poetry as well.

Stemming from the African American oral tradition as well as the musical tradition of the blues, blues poetry takes on themes such as struggle, despair, hard times, and sex. A blues poem often follows a specific form in which a general statement is made in the first line, a variation to that statement is made in the second line, and an ironic twist is made in the third line.

Many of those poets that wrote blues poetry also dabbled in the likes of jazz poetry. Jazz poetry, like blues poetry, was born in the 1920s. However, at the same time jazz was gaining popularity in the US, poetry was once again becoming relevant, especially in African American communities. As both art forms rose in prominence, some artists decided to combine the two styles to create one masterful style. Jazz poetry was born in the 1920s and was maintained in the 1950s by poets from the Beat generation. Some even say today's hip-hop music contains elements of jazz poetry.

Good Friends Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe Jr.

During the 60s, poets such as Amiri Baraka and Quincy Troupe Jr. brought the ideas of blues and jazz poetry back to life. Baracka used jazz poetry as a prime example of black pride during the Black Arts movement, while Troupe worked with famous jazz and blues musician Miles Davis to create some of the finest pieces of blues poetry ever created. Below is one of the greatest blues poems ever written ("The Weary Blues") by one of the greatest poets who ever lived, Langston Hughes. After reading it one can just feel how sad Hughes must have felt when writing this poem. The flow of this poem almost seems like the words can be attached to some kind of music. (Note: the numbers are not actually part of the poem)

"The Weary Blues"

               Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,

2             Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,

3              I heard a Negro play.

4          Down on Lenox Avenue the other night

5          By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light

6              He did a lazy sway ....

7              He did a lazy sway ....

8          To the tune o' those Weary Blues.

9          With his ebony hands on each ivory key

10        He made that poor piano moan with melody.

11            O Blues!

12        Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool

13        He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.

14            Sweet Blues!

15        Coming from a black man's soul.

16            O Blues!

17        In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone

18        I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan--

19            "Ain't got nobody in all this world,

20            Ain't got nobody but ma self.

21             I's gwine to quit ma frownin'

22             And put ma troubles on the shelf."

23        Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.

24        He played a few chords then he sang some more--

25            "I got the Weary Blues

26            And I can't be satisfied.

27            Got the Weary Blues

28            And can't be satisfied--

29            I ain't happy no mo'

30            And I wish that I had died."

31        And far into the night he crooned that tune.

32        The stars went out and so did the moon.

33        The singer stopped playing and went to bed

34        While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.

35        He slept like a rock or a man that's dead

-Langston Hughes (1923)

To me, the biggest part of the Black Arts movement is not the fact that African Americans were trying to show how much black culture meant, but the means on how they attempted to do this, and writing blues poetry was definitely a key contributor to this. By writing blues poetry, black poets and musicians alike were able to successfully depict how rough it was for African Americans to live during a time when they received little to no respect, especially for their contributions to art. Below is a video of one of the greatest blues guitarist to ever live, B.B. King. One can just tell how much emotion is put into his play, and how much the music means to him.





Sources:
Blues Poetry
Poetry and the Blues
Poetry and All That Jazz