# Bad Luck Card explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Langston Hughes.

## What happens

The speaker laments a lost love and a grim fortune told by a Gypsy, who reveals a bad luck card that leaves the speaker feeling hopeless and contemplating suicide.

## Themes in this chapter

### Dreams and Despair

The speaker's hope is shattered by the Gypsy's prophecy, leading to a sense of utter hopelessness and contemplation of suicide.

### Love and Loss

The poem centers on the pain of unrequited love, which is described as 'awful, awful hard' and is the catalyst for the speaker's despair.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who receives the bad luck card and expresses despair over lost love.

### Gypsy Man

The fortune teller who shows the speaker the bad luck card and predicts a bleak future.

## Key lines

> Cause you don’t love me Is awful, awful hard.

Because you don't love me, it's extremely painful.

_The speaker directly expresses the agony of unreciprocated love._

> Gypsy says I’d kill ma self If I was you.

The Gypsy tells me that if she were in my position, she would commit suicide.

_The fortune teller's advice implies that the speaker's situation is so dire that death seems preferable._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/bad-luck-card
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters