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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Introduction
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One of the most influential artists of the Harlem Renaissance, jazz poet Langston Hughes wrote "Night Funeral in Harlem" in 1951. The poem describes the funeral of a poor Black boy in Harlem, New York. Although the boy died in poverty, his community comes together to cover the expenses of his funeral. Yet the speaker insists that it's not the silk-lined coffin or fancy hearse that makes the ceremony special; instead, the speaker says, the grief of all those who loved the boy is what makes the funeral so "grand." The poem thus suggests that love and community are their own kind of prosperity—one that's more significant and lasting than material wealth.
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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Summary
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The speaker says that there was a nighttime funeral in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, before wondering how the attendees could have afforded two fancy cars for the funeral procession.
The boy who died hadn't been able to pay his insurance, which had expired only a few days before. And yet, the funeral attendees obtained a satin-lined coffin for the boy's body to rest in.
The speaker says again that there was a nighttime funeral in Harlem, and then wonders who sent over a flower arrangement.
The dead boy's friends were the ones who brought those flowers, the speaker continues, adding that those same friends will also someday want flowers at their own funerals.
For the third time, the speaker says that there was a nighttime funeral in Harlem. The speaker then wonders who delivered the boy's funereal sermon.
It was an old preacher, the speaker continues, who charged the dead boy's girlfriend five dollars to deliver the sermon.
The speaker says again that there was a nighttime funeral in Harlem.
And when the funeral ended, the coffin's lid was closed over the boy's body, the organ music stopped, and people finished praying. Six people carried away the dead boy in his coffin, and the big, black hearse drove quickly down Lenox Avenue. And after all this, the streetlight on the corner glimmered like a teardrop. That's because the dead boy was so deeply loved by those friends who brought the flowers and the girlfriend who paid for the preacher's services. The grief of all those people who loved the boy is what made his funeral so impressive.
Again, the speaker says that there was a nighttime funeral in Harlem.
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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Themes
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Love and Community as a Form of Wealth
“Night Funeral in Harlem” depicts the funeral of a young Black man who died in poverty. While this "poor boy" didn't leave much money behind, his community covered all his funeral expenses; the people who loved him pay for his coffin, flower arrangements, and a preacher. Despite this generosity, the speaker declares that these things aren't what made the man's funeral “grand.” Instead, his funeral was special because he was deeply loved and thus genuinely grieved by those who knew him. In this way, the poem suggests that love, community, and relationships are more meaningful than material wealth.
Even though the boy died so poor that his “insurance lapsed,” his funeral wasn't lacking in any way because his community came together to cover the expenses. The speaker says that the people who loved the boy provided “two fine cars” for the funeral procession and “a satin box” (i.e., a satin-lined coffin) “for his head to lay.” His friends paid for the flowers, and his girlfriend paid the preacher to “preach that boy away.” By coming together, his community was able to ensure the boy’s passage was honored with all the usual formality associated with a funeral.
But these material things weren't what make the funeral special. The love people had for the boy, and the grief they thus felt at his passing, was what infused the ceremony with real meaning. It was “all their tears that made / That poor boy’s / Funeral grand,” the speaker says. In other words, his funeral stands out not because it was exceptionally luxurious, but because it was attended by people who deeply cared for the boy. The beauty of the boy’s funeral is a testament to the relationship he had with other people while he was alive. No amount of money, the poem thus implies, can make people feel true grief when a person dies—only love can do that.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-45
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Night Funeral in Harlem”
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Lines 1-4
Night funeral ...
... two fine cars?The poem begins with a pair of two-line stanzas in which an omniscient speaker describes a "Night funeral / in Harlem." These words will be repeated over and over throughout the poem, becoming a refrain—and making it clear that Harlem, a predominantly Black neighborhood in New York famous for its rich culture, is itself a central character here.
The use of this refrain gives the poem a songlike quality. In fact, Montage of a Dream Deferred, the collection in which this poem was originally published, intentionally borrowed many different elements from popular Black musical traditions; Hughes wrote about wanting to imitate the "conflicting changes, sudden nuances, sharp and impudent interjections, [and] broken rhythms" of Black music. The poem's sounds suggest that the poem is not just depicting a funeral, but also expressing an even bigger grief—that it's not just abbout sorrow over the death of an individual Black man, but sorrow over the awful, oppressive conditions under which Black people lived.
The speaker goes on to ask, "Where did they get / Them two fine cars?" This rhetorical question isn't really the speaker's own; rather, the speaker is voicing a question that might occur to a passing outsider and preparing to answer it. The answer will reveal a lot about the loving community this poem depicts.
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Lines 5-8
Insurance man, he ...
... head to lay.
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Lines 9-12
Night funeral ...
... wreath of flowers? -
Lines 13-18
Them flowers came ...
... in Harlem: -
Lines 19-24
Who preached that ...
... had to pay. -
Lines 25-30
Night funeral ...
... prayers been said -
Lines 31-34
and six pallbearers ...
... hearse done sped, -
Lines 35-40
The street light ...
... the preacher man— -
Lines 41-45
It was all ...
... In Harlem.
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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Symbols
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Flowers
Flowers can represent many different things; depending on the occasion, they can be used to express love, sympathy, celebration, or grief. In this poem, they more specifically symbolize the love and respect of the boy's friends, who wished to honor his passing. The flowers are a material expression of the fact that this boy was "so dear" to those who knew him—a physical marker of his connection to his community.
Thus, when the speaker says that these friends will "want flowers, too, / When they meet their ends," the speaker isn't implying that these friends care deeply about having pretty flowers next to their coffins. Instead, the speaker is saying that these friends hope that their bond with the community is similarly strong—that others will mourn them in the way they've mourned this boy.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 11-16: “Who was it sent / That wreath of flowers? / Them flowers came / from that poor boy's friends— / They'll want flowers, too, / When they meet their ends.”
- Lines 37-39: “ That boy that they was mournin' / Was so dear, so dear / To them folks that brought the flowers,”
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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
The poem uses several different kinds of repetition to create emphasis and feeling.
The most obvious form of repetition is the refrain "Night funeral / In Harlem," which appears at the beginning of the poem and then repeats throughout. This particular repetition reminds the reader that this isn't just any funeral, but a funeral happening in Harlem. When this poem was written, Harlem was known for being the center of Black intellectual and cultural life. It was a predominantly Black area of New York City, and the poem is an homage to a particularly Black experience. The repetition of the refrain might even suggest that this funeral for a young, penniless, and beloved Black person is an all-too-familiar event.
The poem also uses diacope, such as in lines 11-16, with the repetition of "flowers":
Who was it sent
That wreath of flowers?Them flowers came
from that poor boy's friends—
They'll want flowers, too,
When they meet their ends.Here, repetition draws attention to a particular word, which in this case acts as a symbol for the love and respect the dead boy's friends feel for him.
Lines 19-22 use polyptoton to similar effect:
Who preached that
Black boy to his grave?Old preacher man
Preached that boy away—Here, repetitions create an effect almost like a folksong, evoking a sense of tradition and community.
The poem also uses epizeuxis in line 38 with the repetition of "so dear, so dear." The repetition here has an emotional impact; the emphasis on how much the boy was loved takes precedence over everything else going on in the poem for just a moment, alerting the reader that what all these funereal traditions really come down to is love for the deceased.
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “Night funeral / In Harlem:”
- Line 5: “Insurance”
- Line 6: “insurance”
- Lines 9-10: “Night funeral / In Harlem:”
- Line 12: “flowers”
- Line 13: “flowers”
- Line 15: “flowers”
- Lines 17-18: “Night funeral / in Harlem:”
- Line 19: “preached”
- Line 21: “preacher”
- Line 22: “Preached”
- Lines 25-26: “Night funeral / In Harlem:”
- Line 38: “so dear, so dear”
- Lines 44-45: “Night funeral / In Harlem.”
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Anaphora
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Simile
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Alliteration
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Enjambment
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Aporia
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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Lapsed
- Satin box
- Organ
- Pallbearers
- Hearse
Lapsed-
(Location in poem: Line 6: “His insurance lapsed the other day—”)
Expired.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Night Funeral in Harlem”
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Form
The poem is made up of 45 lines divided into 12 stanzas of varying lengths. Lines 1-26 follow a noticeable pattern: two indented two-line stanzas followed by a quatrain (or four-line stanza). The indented stanzas always include the refrain "Night funeral / In Harlem," giving the poem a songlike structure. In fact, all of the poems published alongside this one in Montage of a Dream Deferred borrowed elements from popular Black American music.
The poem's call-and-response form, in which the speaker poses and then answers questions, similarly draws on Black musical history. Many African tribes relied on songs to pass along history and knowledge, and when people from these tribes were enslaved by colonizers and brought to the Americas, they brought their oral traditions with them. Over time these traditions morphed into any number of musical genres, including jazz, blues, soul, gospel, and be-bop.
Halfway through the poem (after line 26), the form changes rather abruptly; stanza 11 is long, and its lines vary greatly in length. Visually, it is less organized and even its rhythms are different. The sudden change in form seems to suggest that, though the rituals of the funeral comfort the people in the community, the mourners will still eventually be left with their uncontrollable grief.
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Meter
The poem is written in free verse, so it doesn't follow a specific metrical pattern. Instead, the poet achieves rhythm through other means: varying line lengths, enjambment, and repetition, for example. Throughout roughly the first half of the poem (lines 1-26), for example, Hughes uses a refrain ("Night Funeral / In Harlem") to give the poem a somber rhythm, fitting for a funeral. The predictable pattern that he sets up—the refrain, a two-line question, and a four-line answer—might evoke the old rituals of a funeral procession. At the same time, the lack of meter makes the poem feel more intimate, personal, and informal.
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Rhyme Scheme
As a free verse poem, "Night Funeral in Harlem" doesn't follow a single, overarching rhyme scheme. As with the poem's lack of meter, this keeps things from feeling too strict or formal.
That said, there are some moments of rhyme in the poem. For example, each of the poem's quatrains (or four-line stanzas) use end rhyme. The first, stanza 3 ("Insurance man [...] his head to lay"), follows an AABA pattern, while stanzas 6 ("Them flowers [...] their ends") and 9 ("Old preacher [...] had to pay") both follow an ABCB pattern. These rhyming passages feel musical without feeling too rigid or formal, perhaps suggesting the tenderness with which the community comes together for the boy's funeral rituals.
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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Speaker
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It is unclear exactly who the speaker of this poem is, or what their relationship is to the dead boy. The speaker seems to have a nearly omniscient understanding of the scene. They are aware that the boy's insurance expired before he died, and that his friends brought flowers, and that his girlfriend paid the preacher "five dollars" to deliver the sermon. But they don't insert themselves into the poem at all—for instance, saying "That boy that they was mournin'" rather than "That boy that we was mournin'." This could be because the speaker isn't part of this specific community of people who knew the boy and is only looking on and empathizing with what is happening. Or perhaps the speaker is just an omniscient narrator, observing the poem's world.
While the speaker doesn't necessarily represent Langston Hughes himself, it's worth noting that the poet lived in Harlem at the time this poem was written, and therefore the poem could easily be a response to a real funeral that he witnessed.
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“Night Funeral in Harlem” Setting
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Nothing is more clear in this poem than the setting: the speaker reiterates that what they are witnessing is a "Night funeral / In Harlem." The poem even specifically mentions "Lenox Avenue," which is a real street in Harlem (now also known as Malcolm X Boulevard).
The specificity of this setting suggests the importance of the poem's geographical and historical context. In other words, the poem's depictions of the dead man's poverty and of the community that covers the costs of his funeral aren't just about this specific man's relationship to his community, but also about the strong ties between Black people in a racist society. Because of segregation and other racist policies, it was the norm for Black communities to be poor and for Black people to die too young. But despite (or because of) their hardships, the poem suggests, these communities look out for their own: the boy is treated with the honor he deserves.
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Literary and Historical Context of “Night Funeral in Harlem”
Literary Context
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was one of the most important writers and poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Along with other leaders of the movement such as Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, and Countee Cullen, Hughes sought to depict the oppressive conditions under which most Black communities at the time lived. He also aimed to depict the beauty and pride of Black culture through stylistic innovations such as “jazz poetry”—that is, poetry inspired by the syncopated rhythms of jazz.
“Night Funeral in Harlem” first appeared in Hughes’s 1951 poetry collection, Montage of a Dream Deferred. The poems in this collection are "snapshots" of ordinary Black life in Harlem, tracing the events of a single day. The collection was meant to be read as a single poem broken into short flashes—like a movie montage. Hughes wrote in his introduction for the book that he was taking inspiration from “Afro-American popular music,” and that he intended for the book-length poem to be:
marked by conflicting changes, sudden nuances, sharp and impudent interjections, broken rhythms, and passages sometimes in the manner of a jam session, sometimes the popular song, punctuated by the riffs, runs, breaks, and distortions of the music of a community in transition.
In "Night Funeral in Harlem," such influences are apparent in the use of refrain, the call-and-response structure, and the sudden shift between stanza forms in the first and second halves of the poem.
Some Black thinkers criticized Hughes for taking Black poetry back to the oral tradition rather than trying to move it forward. But Hughes (and his enormous audience of working-class and impoverished Black people) didn't see this as a failure. Hughes was merely trying to represent and celebrate Black culture in a society that refused to see Black people as valuable, or even fully human.
Historical Context
“Night Funeral in Harlem” was published in 1951, when the Harlem Renaissance had, for all intents and purposes, come to an end. In the 1920s, a great surge of Black creativity pulsed outward from Harlem, a small neighborhood in New York City that overflowed with Black-owned newspapers, publishers, cabarets, and theaters. The arts scene of Harlem beckoned to Black people across not only America, but the world, announcing a new era in which Black artists and intellectuals would celebrate their own identity and heritage regardless of the racist discrimination that they faced.
Unfortunately, the stock market crash of 1929 led to the Great Depression, and soon millions of people were without work—with Black people disproportionately affected by unemployment due to racist hiring and firing practices. By the 1930s, Harlem was only a ghost of its former self: unemployment had ravaged the mostly Black population there, and the city’s government ignored the neighborhood’s need for structural support. After a 1935 race riot led to three deaths and countless arrests, many of Harlem’s former residents, including its artists, dispersed.
In 1951, the U.S. was still feeling the after-effects of World War II and was also on the cusp of the 1954 to 1968 civil rights movement. Housing throughout the country remained largely segregated thanks to deeply racist policies designed to keep Black Americans out of "white" neighborhoods. The year also saw the start of the protests by Black students that would lead to the 1954 landmark decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, wherein the Supreme Court declared school segregation unconstitutional.
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More “Night Funeral in Harlem” Resources
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External Resources
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Poems and Biography — Read a short biography of Hughes from the Poetry Foundation, and find links to more of his poems.
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Hughes's Persona — Read an article by writer and critic Hilton Als about Hughes's careful public persona and the complex, real person behind the poems.
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The Harlem Renaissance — Read an introduction to the Harlem Renaissance, a groundbreaking cultural movement of which Hughes was an integral part.
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The Poem Set to Music — Listen to a jazz musical performance of Hughes's poem.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes
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