# Fortune Teller Blues explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Langston Hughes.

## What happens

The speaker visits a gypsy fortune teller who predicts she will lose her man. The speaker laments that fortune tellers never give kind news and expresses that she would pay a hundred dollars for peace of mind. She threatens to scream and fall to the floor, declaring she won't live if her man leaves her.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The speaker's intense fear of losing her man drives the entire poem, culminating in a threat of self-destruction.

### Dreams and Despair

The speaker's hope for a kind fortune is crushed, leading to despair and a willingness to pay for relief.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who visits the gypsy and fears losing her man.

### Gypsy Man

The fortune teller who reads the speaker's palm and predicts she will lose her man.

## Key lines

> I went to de gypsy, De gypsy took hold o’ my hand. She looked at me and tole me Chile, you gonna lose yo’ man.

I visited a fortune teller who held my hand and predicted that my man would leave me.

_The speaker receives a dire prophecy from the gypsy._

> I’d give a hundred dollars To de one that would ease my mind.

I would pay a large sum for someone to give me peace of mind.

_The speaker's desperation for emotional relief._

> If my man leaves me I won’t live no mo’.

If my man abandons me, I will not want to continue living.

_The speaker's extreme emotional dependence on her partner._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/fortune-teller-blues
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters