by Langston Hughes

    Droning a drowsy¹ syncopated tune²，

    Rocking back and forth³ to a mellow⁴ croon，

    I heard a Negro play.

    Down on Lenox Avenue the other night

    By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light

    He did a lazy sway . . .

    He did a lazy sway . . .

    To the tune o' those Weary Blues⁵.

    With his ebony hands on each ivory key

    He made that poor piano moan with melody.

    O Blues！

    Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool

    He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.

    Sweet Blues！

    Coming from a black man's soul.

    O Blues！

    In a deep song voice with a melancholy⁶ tone

    I heard that Negro sing， that old piano moan——

    "Ain't got nobody in all this world，

    Ain't got nobody but ma self.

    I's gwine to quit ma frownin'

    And put ma troubles on the shelf."

    Thump⁷， thump， thump， went his foot on the floor.

    He played a few chords then he sang some more——

    "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."

    And far into the night he crooned that tune.

    The stars went out and so did the moon.

    The singer stopped playing and went to bed

    While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.

    He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

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