Summary

The speaker reflects on seeing a musical performance on Lenox Avenue a few days ago. A black pianist played tired blues music in dim gas light. The speaker is moved by the mournful quality of the music, and the musician plays as if entranced or drunk. The man sings of his troubles and his loneliness. Afterwards, the musician went home, the music running through his head, and slept like the dead or a stone.

Analysis

“The Weary Blues” opens with onomatopoeic language which sets the scene: “Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, /Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, / I heard a Negro play.” In the first line, the poet uses the long vowels and soft consonants of “Droning” and “drowsy” to create a drowsiness in the sound of the words. By contrast, the word “syncopated” mimics the staccato beat of the song. The...