Analysis of Trumpet Player
Langston Hughes 1902 (Joplin) – 1967 (New York City)
The Negro
With the trumpet at his lips
Has dark moons of weariness
Beneath his eyes
where the smoldering memory
of slave ships
Blazed to the crack of whips
about thighs
The negro
with the trumpet at his lips
has a head of vibrant hair
tamed down,
patent-leathered now
until it gleams
like jet—
were jet a crown
the music
from the trumpet at his lips
is honey
mixed with liquid fire
the rhythm
from the trumpet at his lips
is ecstasy
distilled from old desire—
Desire
that is longing for the moon
where the moonlight's but a spotlight
in his eyes,
desire
that is longing for the sea
where the sea's a bar-glass
sucker size
The Negro
with the trumpet at his lips
whose jacket
Has a fine one-button roll,
does not know
upon what riff the music slips
It's hypodermic needle
to his soul
but softly
as the tune comes from his throat
trouble
mellows to a golden note
Scheme | ABxcdbbc ABxexxxe xBdfxBdf FxxcFdxc ABxgab hgdihi |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010 1010111 1111100 0111 10100100 111 110111 011 010 1010111 1011101 11 1011 0111 11 0101 010 1010111 110 111010 010 1010111 1100 0111010 010 1110101 101101 011 010 1110101 101011 101 010 1010111 110 1011101 111 01110101 101010 111 110 1011111 10 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 820 |
Words | 161 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 44 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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"Trumpet Player" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/47022/trumpet-player>.
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