Langston Hughes’ poem ‘Night Funeral In Harlem’

 Langston Hughes’ poem ‘Night Funeral In Harlem’

I request readers to read the poem from the above link and then my review. Thanks. 

The downtrodden grieve any untimely death very deeply and emotionally. During ordinary times there might have been scrimmages between one another to grab limited public resources or amenities; but when they see the untimely death of a member of their class, they recall all the exploitations and rejections all of them suffered. They mourn in big numbers and express their respect with garlands or wreaths too costly for their earnings, their very faces mien and forlorn reveal their anguish. This poem brings before us obsequies of a young black boy. Their emotional assembling and grieving reveal to the reader the genuine empathy and fraternity deep rooted in the community. Their individual failures notwithstanding, they never fail one another in the rare moments of crisis, trauma and loss. The poem has succeeded in driving home this unique fraternity amongst the poor. The poet elaborates on who paid for the flowers, who for the preacher and gives us many other details in the obeisance but concludes:

It was all their tears that made

That poor boy's

Funeral grand.

Night funeral

In Harlem

In many instances, we find the mourners of a prominent person assemble not only to pay the last respects, but to further own interests in the ensuing phase when new power equations emerge. The tears from the depth of hearts only make the final farewell obeisant and reverential. The reader is moved by this meticulously carved crafty poem.