# Homesick Blues explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Langston Hughes.

## What happens

The speaker expresses a deep longing for the South, triggered by the sound of trains and railroad bridges. The homesickness is so overwhelming that the speaker seeks a boxcar to return home, and must laugh to keep from crying.

## Themes in this chapter

### Dreams and Despair

The speaker's desire to go somewhere and the painful homesickness reflect the tension between hope for escape and the despair of longing.

### Poverty and Class Struggle

The speaker looks for a boxcar to ride South, indicating a lack of means and the struggle of a working-class existence.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who feels the homesick blues and longs to return South.

### Lawd

Invoked in the exclamation 'Lawd' as the speaker laments the homesick blues.

## Key lines

> De railroad bridge’s / A sad song in de air.

The railroad bridge sounds like a melancholy tune.

_The speaker personifies the bridge as singing a sad song, reflecting their own sorrow._

> To keep from cryin’ / I opens ma mouth an’ laughs.

To hold back tears, I force myself to laugh.

_The speaker uses laughter as a defense mechanism against overwhelming sadness._

## Links

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