You gotta keep on living.

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!

The poem starts off when the author goes to sit down by the river to think. He is unable to think because he is so frustrated and he just ends up getting more depressed. Throughout the poem he talks about ‘almost’ doing things, but doesn’t because he is trying to control himself and keep his cool. When he talks about jumping in the water and sinking he says, ‘I came up once and hollered! I came up twice and cried!’ then again when he is talking about jumping from the sixteenth floor he says, ‘I stood there and I hollered! I stood there and I cried!’ In both examples he uses the words hollered and cried to emphasize his feelings. In both examples, the author also repeats certain parts, but just changes a word or two in order for it to apply to his example. ‘If that water hadn’t a-been so cold I might’ve sunk and died.’ and ‘If it hadn’t a-been so high I might’ve jumped and died.’ tell what ‘might’ have happened IF it hadn’t been so cold or high. In both it makes it seem like he is on the edge of giving up and is contemplating whether or not to throw it all away. That is why he uses terms like ‘if it hadn’t’ because he is contempleting and is finding excuses to why he doesn’t do something.

‘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’

This stanza tells that he could’ve given up many times before, but never did. He was born to live and that is what he finally realizes he needs to start doing..Living. I really liked the lines ‘Though you may hear me holler, And you may see me cry–’ because it is something everyone can relate to. Nothing is perfect in life and there are hard times we all have to go through and at those times we may yell and cry and feel like we should give up, but we never do. However, my favorite line of this poem has to be the final one. ‘Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!’ I just like the way he ended the poem and I like how he repeats ‘Life is fine!’ at the beginning and at the end of the final sentence. Also, I like how it rhymes and it sounds good together. The poem starts off with a kind of depressing tone, but as it progresses the tone changes to hopeful and determined. He was depressed with life and then he realizes he has to move on and keep living.

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