"The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes' "The Weary Blues" depicts a great picture of what it was like for black musicians in his time period.  The speaker in this poem describes the sadness of a blues singer that he saw in a night club in Harlem (We know it is in Harlem because he references Lenox Avenue).

The singer in the video is Cab Calloway.  He was a lively, energetic, scat singing, jazz musician in the 1930's and 1940's.  He also came from a middle-class family, from New York (and later Baltimore).  I, personally, did not think that he was a good choice for the person to be in the video for this poem.

The blues originated in the south, more specifically the Mississippi Delta.  It spread in popularity because many of the suppressed people migrated north, along with their sad experiences.  Due to the fact that many of them traveled alone, and were extremely poor, this sad music, or the blues, came about.  I feel that a more appropriate person to be shown in this video would have been someone who fit that music better, such as B.B. King or Muddy Waters.

Here is a link for a song by B.B. King called "Three O'Clock Blues."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6xSpIRYa7I

Whitman, Dickinson, Poe

Walt Whitman

The part of this video I enjoyed the most is the way to music was set up behind the words.  At first, the poem seems to start off very calm, as does the music.  Then, once the poem reaches its real meaningful words, the music becomes louder and more intense.  I also found it amazing that in 1855, Whitman published almost 800 copies of “Leaves of Grass” and only two dozen sold.  This is just another example of certain things, in this case a poem, being timeless.

Emily Dickinson

This is a very strange video.  Although it was a bit creepy, it did offer insight to the background or life of Emily Dickinson.  It also shared some thoughts on what influenced Emily Dickinson to write many of her poems, particularly when they discuss how many friends and families passed away in her life.  I felt that this video is a good starting point for anyone who is researching, or learning more about Emily Dickinson.

Edgar Allan Poe

Both Christopher Walken and James Earl Jones’s version of the Raven were good videos to watch.  Both men have voices that are classic and easily recognizable.  I personally enjoyed Walken’s version better.  The reason for this is that I thought the sounds of the wind blustering as Walken recited the poem made for a more gloomy and eerie picture.