Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

For the next post on enriching our lives with knowledge on poem I've decided to up the tempo by paraphrasing a long poem made famous by a lad name Langston Hughes. I came across this poem and I seriously have to put my thoughts into it!

As usual, here is the poem...

Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

 

I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine! 

PARAPHRASED!

Because the poem has lots of stanza but short lines I've decided to paraphrase two or three at a time (for your reading pleasure)

Stanza 1, 2 & 3

This poem has a rather creepy feeling about it & I could tell just by my first impression that it is about a suicide attempt. The first three stanza talks on how the poet went to a river bank and tried to kill himself by drowning. The poet did not think about the consequences of his action in this attempt. However he failed miserably because the water was to cold for him to ignore and drown himself in. The third stanza shows how much the poet emphasize on the coldness of the river.

Stanza 4, 5 & 6

These stanzas continue the tale of another suicidal attempt made by the poet. This time he decided to jump off a building. However, this time he actually thought of his action and remembered his baby (could be referring to an actual baby or his lover?). But the lines suggest that the baby is the reason why he wanted to jump. But after several screams he decided to pull back as he was afraid of the height.

Stanza 7, 6 & 8

In these last stanzas the author talks on how much he is still alive today. The first two lines could mean that the reason for the poet's suicidal attempt was because of a heartbreak. The sixth stanza shows how much the author has went through with this "me" but he would never do anything that could worsen the scenario. And in the last and final stanza the author emphasize it as a whole by using an exclamation mark as if he was trying to convince himself that everything is fine rather than convincing others around him.

FINAL SAY

I'm applauding the poet for making such a bold move by turning his suicide attempts into an amazing poem!

If youre not satisfied by my paraphrasing of this poem, please leave a comment and say how you think it should be done.

THANK YOU