In this poem, it is very clear how Hughes is trying to use a song or in this case a ballad as the base for the poems tone and style of reading. While reading the poem, I found myself even hearing and picturing this poem with a tenor saxophone and bass on stage. The song, I mean poem, has just a great lyrical qualities. I mean it even has ballad in the title. Hughes does a great job of using his own experience as a reflection in the poem. This is can be seen when he writes about how much his apartment is just falling to pieces. Hughes wrote this to show how much the depression of this time had affected ALL people. Not only is this a message of the treatment of blacks during the times, its what millions, 25 million to be exact were facing everyday white, black, etc. during the depression, in constant fear of being thrown into the streets with there families. That’s one of the things i love about Langston Hughes poetry it was a totally accurate reflection of his day.
Hughes keeps a constant use of lyrical qualities throughout his poem. It is structured like an old time blues song until the final verse where the rhythm changes. In the final verse, Hughes writes these loud blatant words with lots of exclamation points. He does this to grab the reader’s attention and really give the ending a good “bang!” He even puts up what the newspapers will say in the days after the tenant threatens the landlord. This is Hughes last way of pushing equal rights between races. Showing all readers what his race has to face in this time frame under these terrible conditions.
claycarlton 
I thought it was kind of funny how you were able to imagine a tenor saxophone and bass while reading this poem, but at the same time I thought it was cool. I agree with you that Hughes did a good job of portraying the struggles of everyone in society and not only those of one ethnic group. Also, I liked how you showed that the last stanza was Hughes’ push for equal rights among African Americans.