# Gal's Cry for a Dying Lover explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Langston Hughes.

## What happens

A woman mourns the impending death of her lover, signaled by an owl's hoot and a hound dog's bark, and pleads with Jesus to spare him despite her own feelings of ugliness and unworthiness.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

The speaker's desperate cry for her dying lover highlights the pain of impending loss and the depth of her love.

### Death and Mortality

The poem is centered on the anticipation of death, signaled by natural omens and the speaker's plea for divine intervention.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker, a black woman crying for her dying lover.

### Hound dawg

Its barking signals the lover's impending death.

### Jesus

Implored to have mercy and not take the lover.

### Lawd

Addressed in a plea for mercy on the speaker.

## Key lines

> Heard de owl a hootin’, Knowed somebody’s ’bout to die.

I heard the owl hooting and knew that someone was going to die.

_The owl's hoot is a traditional omen of death in Southern folklore._

> O, Lawd have mercy On a po’ black girl.

Oh Lord, have mercy on a poor black girl.

_The speaker appeals to God for compassion in her time of grief._

> High-in-heaben Jesus, Please don’t take this man o’ mine.

Jesus in heaven, please don't take this man of mine.

_A direct plea to Jesus to spare her lover's life._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/gal-s-cry-for-a-dying-lover
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters