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
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Submitted by Thao9393 on May 19, 2018

Modified on May 03, 2023

49 sec read
1,449

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABxcdbbc ABxexxxe xBdfxBdf FxxcFdxc ABxgab hgdihi
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 820
Words 161
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 6, 6

Langston Hughes

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "the negro was in vogue" which was later paraphrased as "when Harlem was in vogue". more…

All Langston Hughes poems | Langston Hughes Books

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