{"product_id":"blues-poems-isbn-9780375414589","title":"Blues Poems","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this gorgeous hardcover anthology—the first devoted exclusively to blues poems—a wide array of poets pay tribute to the form of the blues and offer testimony to its lasting power. Edited by award\u003c\/b\u003e–\u003cb\u003ewinning poet Kevin Young.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn in African American work songs, field hollers, and the powerful legacy of the spirituals, the blues traveled the country from the Mississippi delta to “Sweet Home Chicago,” forming the backbone of American music.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe blues have left an indelible mark on the work of a diverse range of poets: from “The Weary Blues” by Langston Hughes and “Funeral Blues” by W. H. Auden, to “Blues on Yellow” by Marilyn Chin and “Reservation Blues” by Sherman Alexie. Here are blues-influenced and blues-inflected poems from, among others, Gwendolyn Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, June Jordan, Richard Wright, Nikki Giovanni, Charles Wright, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Cornelius Eady. And here, too, are classic song lyrics—poems in their own right—from Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, Ma Rainey, and Muddy Waters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe rich emotional palette of the blues is fully represented here in verse that pays tribute to the heart and humor of the music, and in poems that swing with its history and hard-bitten hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEveryman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSTANDARDS (Blues Poems before World War II)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eLANGSTON HUGHES The Weary Blues \u003cbr\u003eLANGSTON HUGHES Morning After \u003cbr\u003eLANGSTON HUGHES Beale Street Love \u003cbr\u003eLANGSTON HUGHES Song for a Dark Girl \u003cbr\u003eLANGSTON HUGHES Midwinter Blues \u003cbr\u003eLANGSTON HUGHES Too Blue \u003cbr\u003eLANGSTON HUGHES Note on Commercial Theatre 26\u003cbr\u003eFENTON JOHNSON Tired \u003cbr\u003eCLAUDE MCKAY The Harlem Dancer\u003cbr\u003eNANCY CUNARD Memory Blues \u003cbr\u003eCOUNTEE CULLEN Colored Blues Singer \u003cbr\u003eSTERLING BROWN Ma Rainey \u003cbr\u003eSTERLING BROWN Choices \u003cbr\u003eNICOLÁS GUILLÉN High Brown \u003cbr\u003eMELVIN B. TOLSON Sootie Joe\u003cbr\u003eMAXWELL BODENHEIM Street-level Jazz\u003cbr\u003eW. H. AUDEN Blues \u003cbr\u003eW. H. AUDEN Funeral Blues \u003cbr\u003eMURIEL RUKEYSER George Robinson: Blues\u003cbr\u003eLEOPOLD SENGHOR Ndéssé, or \u003ci\u003e“Blues” \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOWEN DODSON Guitar \u003cbr\u003eCHARLES EDWARD SMITH Blues Stanzas\u003cbr\u003eRICHARD WRIGHT AND LANGSTON HUGHES Red Clay Blues\u003cbr\u003eRICHARD WRIGHT The FB Eye Blues \u003cbr\u003eVINCENT MCHUGH Dicty Blues \u003cbr\u003eWARING CUNEY Down-home Boy \u003cbr\u003eWARING CUNEY Carry Me Back\u003cbr\u003eWARING CUNEY Let Me Tell You Blues Singers Something \u003cbr\u003eGWENDOLYN BROOKS Queen of the Blues \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSOME SONGS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eW. C. HANDY St. Louis Blues\u003cbr\u003eMAMIE SMITH Crazy Blues \u003cbr\u003eMA RAINEY See See Rider Blues\u003cbr\u003eBESSIE SMITH Empty Bed Blues\u003cbr\u003eBESSIE SMITH Backwater Blues \u003cbr\u003eBESSIE SMITH Gimme a Pigfoot\u003cbr\u003eIDA COX Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues \u003cbr\u003eRICHARD M. JONES Trouble in Mind\u003cbr\u003eBLIND WILLIE JOHNSON Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed \u003cbr\u003eSON HOUSE Death Letter Blues \u003cbr\u003eROBERT JOHNSON Kindhearted Woman Blues \u003cbr\u003eROBERT JOHNSON Hellhound on My Trail \u003cbr\u003eROBERT JOHNSON Love in Vain \u003cbr\u003eJIMMY RUSHING Sent for You Yesterday \u003cbr\u003eLEADBELLY Good Morning Blues \u003cbr\u003eMUDDY WATERS Hoochie Coochie Man\u003cbr\u003eBIG MAMA THORNTON Hound Dog \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFORM\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eJAYNE CORTEZ You Know \u003cbr\u003eAMIRI BARAKA Look for You Yesterday, Here You Come Today\u003cbr\u003eSONIA SANCHEZ Blues \u003cbr\u003eSONIA SANCHEZ Blues Haikus \u003cbr\u003eSONIA SANCHEZ Set. No. 2 \u003cbr\u003eNIKKI GIOVANNI Master Charge Blues \u003cbr\u003eMARGARET WALKER Inflation Blues \u003cbr\u003eQUINCY TROUPE Woke Up Crying the Blues \u003cbr\u003eELIZABETH ALEXANDER Letter: Blues \u003cbr\u003eA. VAN JORDAN Cheating Woman Blues Haiku \u003cbr\u003eETHERIDGE KNIGHT Feeling Fucked\/Up \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFACING OFF\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eJAMES C. MORRIS The Blues \u003cbr\u003eKENNETH REXROTH Married Blues \u003cbr\u003eKENNETH PATCHEN Lonesome Boy Blues \u003cbr\u003eHENRY DUMAS Concentration Camp Blues \u003cbr\u003eHENRY DUMAS Outer Space Blues \u003cbr\u003eDEREK WALCOTT Blues \u003cbr\u003eSHERMAN ALEXIE Reservation Blues\u003cbr\u003eGUSTAVO PÉREZ FIRMAT Bilingual Blues\u003cbr\u003eMARILYN CHIN Blues on Yellow\u003cbr\u003eCARL PHILLIPS Blue \u003cbr\u003eGAYL JONES Deep Song \u003cbr\u003eCALVIN FORBES Soledad \u003cbr\u003eCALVIN FORBES Some Pieces\u003cbr\u003eDARRELL BURTON Broom Song \u003cbr\u003eALLEN GINSBERG Sickness Blues\u003cbr\u003eSANDRA MCPHERSON Bad Mother Blues\u003cbr\u003eAFAA M. WEAVER Rambling \u003cbr\u003eJUNE JORDAN Uncle Bull-boy \u003cbr\u003eTRACIE MORRIS Get Away 1928\u003cbr\u003eSEAN HILL Joe Chappel’s Foot Log Bottom Blues 1952 \u003cbr\u003eALAN DUGAN Swing Shift Blues\u003cbr\u003eBILLY COLLINS The Blues \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFIGURES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eSHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS Any Woman’s Blues \u003cbr\u003eCORNELIUS EADY I’m a Fool to Love You \u003cbr\u003eCORNELIUS EADY Muddy Waters \u0026amp; the Chicago Blues \u003cbr\u003eCORNELIUS EADY Leadbelly \u003cbr\u003eKEVIN YOUNG Langston Hughes \u003cbr\u003eWILLIE PERDOMO Song for Langston \u003cbr\u003eSTERLING PLUMPP Muddy Waters \u003cbr\u003eHONORÉE FANONNE JEFFERS Big Mama Thornton \u003cbr\u003eCHARLES WRIGHT Poem Almost Wholly in My Own Manner \u003cbr\u003eJOHN BERRYMAN Dream Song [no. 40]\u003cbr\u003eDAVID WOJAHN John Berryman Listening to Robert Johnson’s \u003ci\u003eKing of the Delta Blues\u003c\/i\u003e, January 1972 \u003cbr\u003eFORREST HAMER Arrival\u003cbr\u003eDAVID RIVARD Not Guilty \u003cbr\u003eALFRED ENCARNACION Bulosan Listens to a Recording of Robert Johnson \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFREIGHT\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eAL YOUNG The Blues Don’t Change \u003cbr\u003eG. E. PATTERSON Cinderella \u003cbr\u003eYUSEF KOMUNYAKAA Annabelle \u003cbr\u003eYUSEF KOMUNYAKAA For You, Sweetheart, I’ll Sell Plutonium Reactors \u003cbr\u003eYUSEF KOMUNYAKAA Woman, I Got the Blues \u003cbr\u003eCATHERINE BOWMAN Hard-Luck Resume \u003cbr\u003eTHOMAS MCGRATH Gone Away Blues \u003cbr\u003eROBERT CREELEY Broken Back Blues \u003cbr\u003eJOSEPH BRODSKY Blues \u003cbr\u003eWILLIAM MATTHEWS Narcissus Blues \u003cbr\u003eRAYMOND R. PATTERSON Special Pain Blues\u003cbr\u003eTOI DERRICOTTE Blackbottom \u003cbr\u003eMAJOR JACKSON How to Listen \u003cbr\u003eJANE COOPER Wanda’s Blues\u003cbr\u003eALBERT MURRAY \u003ci\u003eFrom \u003c\/i\u003eAubades \u003cbr\u003eNATASHA TRETHEWEY At the Station \u003cbr\u003eJEFF FALLIS Nosferatu Blues\u003cbr\u003eCHARLES SIMIC Bed Music \u003cbr\u003eJOHN YAU Domestic Bliss \u003cbr\u003eBOB KAUFMAN Blues for Hal Waters \u003cbr\u003eBOB KAUFMAN Heavy Water Blues \u003cbr\u003eWANDA COLEMAN Heavy Daughter Blues \u003cbr\u003eTERRANCE HAYES The Things-No-One-Knows Blues \u003cbr\u003eANTHONY WALTON The Encyclopedia of Rhythm and Blues \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFINALE (For Bessie Smith)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eALVIN AUBERT Bessie\u003cbr\u003eROBERT HAYDEN Homage to the Empress of the Blues\u003cbr\u003eJACKIE KAY Twelve Bar Bessie \u003cbr\u003eMYRON O’HIGGINS Blues for Bessie \u003cbr\u003eWARING CUNEY Bessie Smith \u003cbr\u003eCOLLEEN J. MCELROY Mae West Chats It Up with Bessie Smith \u003cbr\u003eMICHAEL S. HARPER Last Affair: Bessie’s Blues Song \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eList of Authors \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/i\u003eKEVIN YOUNG is the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the author of fifteen books of poetry and prose. He is also the poetry editor of \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, where he hosts the Poetry Podcast, and is the editor of nine other anthology volumes, including \u003ci\u003eAfrican American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle \u0026amp; Song\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Everyman's Library","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304831701221,"sku":"NP9780375414589","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780375414589.jpg?v=1767722859","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/blues-poems-isbn-9780375414589","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}