The Lyrical Mind of Hughes
"Minstrel Man"
Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think
I suffer after
I have held my pain
So long?
Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter,
You do not hear
My inner cry?
Because my feet
Are gay with dancing,
You do not know
I die?
Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think
I suffer after
I have held my pain
So long?
Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter,
You do not hear
My inner cry?
Because my feet
Are gay with dancing,
You do not know
I die?
SOAPSTone
Speaker: To me there are 2 possible speakers in this poem Langston Hughes or another man.
Occasion: Hughes wrote this poem to addresses a basic truth of social perception and individual identity. He wanted to let it be known that what you see on the outside does not always show what is happening on the inside.
Audience: I dont think that this poem would be aimed toward toddlers so I say that the audience of this poem are teenagers and adults.
Purpose: If I had to guess the purpose of this poem, I would say Langston wrote it to let out some feelings he had bottled up.
Subject: The subject of this poem is a man letting it be known that he is unhappy but he hides in under his smiles and laughter.
Tone: I would say the tone of this poem is agitated, sad, and revealing.
Occasion: Hughes wrote this poem to addresses a basic truth of social perception and individual identity. He wanted to let it be known that what you see on the outside does not always show what is happening on the inside.
Audience: I dont think that this poem would be aimed toward toddlers so I say that the audience of this poem are teenagers and adults.
Purpose: If I had to guess the purpose of this poem, I would say Langston wrote it to let out some feelings he had bottled up.
Subject: The subject of this poem is a man letting it be known that he is unhappy but he hides in under his smiles and laughter.
Tone: I would say the tone of this poem is agitated, sad, and revealing.
Analysis
This poem has a rhyming format, an example would be in line 2 and 6. Langston Hughes rhymes "Is wide with laughter" and "I suffer after. " aside from the format of this poem, there is also some usage of figurative language, Personification and Lyrics. The use of personification happens when he says "Because my feet are gay with dancing." Obviously feet cannot have the emotion of being gay/happy thats a trait humans have not inanimate objects like shoes. And finally the use of Lyrics happens throughout the entire poem. Our survey Literature class defined lyric as a short poem that seems musical and expresses that poets emotion. In my opinion the author, Langston Hughes, is trying to let it be known that he is putting on a fake persona that he is happy when in truth he is sad.