Way Down South in Dixie
(Break the heart of me)
They hung my black young lover
To a cross roads tree.
Way Down South in Dixie
(Bruised body high in air)
I asked the white Lord Jesus
What was the use of prayer.
Way Down South in Dixie
(Break the heart of me)
Love is a naked shadow
On a gnarled and naked tree.
In the poem, “A Song For a Dark Girl”, Langston Hughes uses the Modernist era themes of allusion and imagery to talk about his view of the world. Hughes starts off every stanza with the line “Way Down South in Dixie”, which shows the poem is going to be about something regarding race. This is due to the fact that America has not gone through the Civil Rights Movement yet, and is still big on segregation. Hughes uses imagery throughout the poem by using words like, “cross roads” and “gnarled” to describe his surroundings. The last line of the poem, “Love is a naked shadow, on a gnarled and naked tree” (Hughes 11-12), shows the brutality and hardships that people of color had to deal with during this time period. Hughes is alluding to the fact that his lover is hanging from a warped and disfigured tree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d26RBOo7KLU
“Song for a Dark Girl” is actually designed to be read out as a song. This creates juxtaposition in the poem between the song and the experiences that are told throughout the literary work. “Song for a Dark Girl” really emphasizes Hughes’ view on racism, but like other Modernist work, he uses the theme of alienation to get his point across. Hughes’ lover is hanging in a tree by herself, and the poem itself makes it seem like he is isolated from the rest of society. He makes the entire poem sound like it is being told through the eyes of himself, and makes the reader feel grief and sadness for the tragic death of his lover.