Immediately celebrated as a tour de force upon its release, Langston Hughes's first published collection of poems still offers a powerful reflection of the Black experience. From "The Weary Blues" to "Dream Variation," Hughes writes clearly and colorfully, and his words remain prophetic.
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Immediately celebrated as a tour de force upon its release, Langston Hughes's first published collection of poems still offers a powerful reflection of the Black experience. From "The Weary Blues" to "Dream Variation," Hughes writes clearly and colorfully, and his words remain prophetic.
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Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $28.58, like new condition, Sold by GreatBookPricesUK5 rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Castle Donington, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2022 by Martino Fine Books.
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Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 106 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $9.19, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Dover Publications.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $12.61, fair condition, Sold by MEADOWLANDMEDIA rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from fayetteville, AR, UNITED STATES, published 2015 by Knopf.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues (Mint Editions (Black Narratives)) to cart. $19.90, like new condition, Sold by Academic Book Solutions rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Medford, NY, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by Mint Editions.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $44.93, good condition, Sold by TEXTSHUB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Franklin Lakes, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2015 by Knopf.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $107.00, fair condition, Sold by Grendel Books, ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Springfield, MA, UNITED STATES, published 1929 by Knopf,.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. A collection of poems. The author's first book. Introduction by Carl Van Vechten. Fifth printing. Some moderate soiling and wear to boards, brief gift inscription (from 1929) on front paste-down, short edge tears on two pages, light damp staining to page edges throughout much of the text block, else fair in green cloth with gilt lettering. No dust jacket.; 109 pages.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $207.00, very good condition, Sold by Cleveland Book Company rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Rocky River, OH, UNITED STATES, published 1927 by Alfred A. Knopf.
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Very good. Octavo, 109pp. A crisp, clean, very good copy in the publisher's blue cloth over flexible boards, stamped in gilt on the front board and spine. Spine somewhat darkened, with some shallow wear at the crown, owner's name on the front free endpaper, and the inner hinges starting, but holding and not cracked. Fragile, and slightly worn, but a rather nice copy of Hughes' important, sensational first book, uncommon in presentable condition. Lacking the rare dust jacket.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $209.00, good condition, Sold by Alplaus Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Alplaus, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1927 by Knopf.
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Seller's Description:
Good in Missing jacket. Fourth printing, April 1927. Hardbound without dust jacket. Lettering on spine faded with wear at tips of spine. Gold lettering on front cover still bright. One page at the end (which includes Note on the Type) is uncut. Inscription on front free end paper: "Happy Birthday! to Jimmie from Jean, Marge, Billie." Pages mildly tanned from aging.
Add this copy of The Weary Blues to cart. $1,507.00, good condition, Sold by Cleveland Book Company rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Rocky River, OH, UNITED STATES, published 1926 by Alfred A. Knopf.
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Good. Octavo, 109pp. Introduction by Carl Van Vechten. A good copy in the publisher's beige Batik paper over boards, with blue cloth spine and gilt spine lettering, lacking the rare dust jacket. Spine lettering dulled, wear to the fragile binding paper, especially at the bottoms of the boards, with a piece flapping, but attached, at the bottom of the rear board. Handsome bookplate to the front paste-down, and another contemporary owner's name on the front free endpaper. Shallow fraying to spine ends. Contents clean and sound. Hughes' first book, one of just 1, 500 copies, and quickly reprinted. The collection contains the very first poem that Hughes ever submitted to a periodical, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers, " which was first published in "The Crisis" in 1921. Hughes writes movingly in his first autobiography "The Big Sea, " about his composition of that poem, which he authored while crossing the Mississippi River on the way from Cleveland to Mexico City to live with his father in 1920, an experience that left him with more questions than answers about his future and about the world. Copies of the first printing, with or without dust jacket, and in any condition, have become scarce in the trade.
Cheryl A. Wall's recent book "The Harlem Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction" (2016) inspired me to revisit the poetry of Langston Hughes. I had read collections of Hughes' poems some time ago but was largely familiar with him through his under-appreciated autobiographical novel, "Not Without Laughter". As luck would have it I found this new edition of Hughes' "The Weary Blues" in the public library. The volume is even shorter that Wall's book that I read in the "Very Short Introductions" series.
"The Weary Blues" (1926) was Hughes' (1902 -- 1967) first published book of poetry and is the work of a young man of twenty-three. Carl Van Vechten's introduction to the volume gives a sense of Hughes' early life: he had been academically successful, and had wandered in the states before shipping off to sea and ultimately spending time in Europe. He already had many life experiences which he reflected in his poetry. Hughes worked briefly in Washington, D.C. as a busboy before moving to Harlem where he lived for most of his life. There is a Washington D.C. restaurant and bookstore known as "Busboys and Poets" named after Hughes which I frequent. It is difficult not to think of Hughes while visiting the establishment.
The book is beautiful, lucid, musical and highly personal collection which captures the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance between the two world wars. Hughes writes with feeling and a sense of pride in himself and in African Americans for their past and their potential. The famous title poem for the volume sings of an aging black blues singer playing the piano "coming from a black man's soul" in a Harlem club. Blues rhythm and blues feeling often are used in these poems and in Hughes' later work..
"I got the Weary Blues
And I can't be satisfied
Got the Weary Blues
And can't be satisfied--
I ain't happy no mo'
And I wish that I had died". .
Some of the poems address Hughes' own experience and aspirations and the joy and promise of life. The fear of death and of the passing of joy and sexuality are never far away. The collection includes love poems such as "When Sue Wears Red." The section of the book titled "Water-Front Streets" describes some of his experiences at sea. Many of the poems describe people in Harlem, including jazz musicians in clubs and on the street,, beggars, lonely women, rakes, dancers, and prostitutes. Hughes shows the ability to capture a person or situation in a few words, as in the poem, "Young Prostitute":
"Her dark brown face
Is like a withered flower
On a broken stem.
These kind come cheap in Harlem"
The poems reflecting upon the black experience are among the most famous in "Weary Blues". They include "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" which Hughes wrote at the age of 19 and read when he met W.E.B. Bubois. The poem "Mother to Son" speaks of fortitude and the need to carry on as the aging mother exhorts her son to keep trying in life and reminds him "And life for me ain't been no crystal stair." In the final poem of the collection, the "Epilogue" Hughes writes of African Americans that "I ,too, sing America" as the speaker seeks better days, freedom, and the end of race prejudice. The poems in the book speak of African American pride and experience but they are universal in scope as well.
It was valuable to read this short collection of Hughes' first published poetry rather than an anthology. It allowed me to focus on works in the way they were first presented rather than reading them quickly in a larger anthology. The small volume with Van Vechten's introduction and the original cover art by Miguel Covarrurubias of the bluesman at the piano made me feel that I was somehow holding the volume in my hands in a Harlem café of the mid 1920s.
