Composed during the era of segregation in the United States, “Daybreak in Alabama” expresses a deep yearning for unity in a racially divided world. Langston Hughes, one of the foremost poets of the Harlem Renaissance, first published the poem in 1940 in a journal called Unquote. The poem's speaker imagines someday writing music about the dawn in Alabama, and in it celebrating the diversity that exists both within nature and among human beings. Through this musical metaphor, the speaker presents racial equality and harmony as natural and beautiful.
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The Full Text of “Daybreak in Alabama”
The Full Text of “Daybreak in Alabama”
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“Daybreak in Alabama” Summary
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“Daybreak in Alabama” Themes
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Racial Unity and Harmony
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-23
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Daybreak in Alabama”
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Lines 1-3
When I get ...
... Daybreak in Alabama -
Lines 4-6
And I'm gonna ...
... like soft dew -
Lines 7-13
I'm gonna put ...
... field daisy eyes -
Lines 14-17
Of black and ...
... hands in it -
Lines 18-19
Touching everybody with ...
... natural as dew -
Lines 20-23
In that dawn ...
... In Alabama.
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“Daybreak in Alabama” Symbols
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Daybreak/Dawn
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 3: “Daybreak in Alabama”
- Line 6: “And falling out of heaven like soft dew”
- Lines 19-20: “Touching each other natural as dew / In that dawn of music when I”
- Lines 22-23: “And write about daybreak / In Alabama.”
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“Daybreak in Alabama” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 1: “colored composer”
- Line 4: “put,” “purtiest”
- Line 7: “tall tall trees”
- Line 9: “red,” “rain”
- Line 12: “big brown”
- Line 21: “colored composer”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 4: “put,” “purtiest”
- Line 6: “falling,” “soft”
- Line 7: “tall,” “tall,” “trees”
- Line 8: “needles”
- Line 9: “smell,” “red,” “clay,” “rain”
- Line 10: “red,” “necks”
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Metaphor
Where metaphor appears in the poem:- Lines 1-2: “When I get to be a colored composer / I'm gonna write me some music”
- Line 3: “Daybreak in Alabama”
- Line 20: “dawn of music”
- Lines 20-22: “when I / Get to be a colored composer / And write about”
- Lines 22-23: “daybreak / In Alabama.”
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Anaphora
Where anaphora appears in the poem:- Line 2: “I'm gonna”
- Line 4: “And I'm gonna put”
- Line 6: “And”
- Line 7: “I'm gonna put”
- Line 8: “And”
- Line 9: “And”
- Line 10: “And”
- Line 11: “And”
- Line 12: “And”
- Line 13: “And”
- Line 15: “And”
- Line 16: “And”
- Line 17: “And”
- Line 18: “Touching”
- Line 19: “Touching”
- Line 22: “And”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 1: “When I get to be a colored composer”
- Line 2: “write,” “music”
- Lines 2-3: “about / Daybreak in Alabama”
- Line 6: “dew”
- Line 7: “tall tall”
- Line 9: “red clay”
- Line 14: “black,” “white,” “black,” “white,” “black”
- Line 15: “white,” “hands”
- Line 16: “black,” “hands,” “hands”
- Line 17: “red clay”
- Line 19: “dew”
- Line 20: “music”
- Lines 20-21: “when I / Get to be a colored composer”
- Line 22: “write”
- Lines 22-23: “about daybreak / In Alabama.”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 2-3: “about / Daybreak”
- Lines 13-14: “eyes / Of”
- Lines 20-21: “I / Get”
- Lines 21-22: “composer / And”
- Lines 22-23: “daybreak / In”
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Simile
Where simile appears in the poem:- Line 5: “Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist”
- Line 6: “And falling out of heaven like soft dew”
- Line 19: “Touching each other natural as dew”
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Asyndeton
Where asyndeton appears in the poem:- Line 14: “white black white black people”
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Polysyndeton
Where polysyndeton appears in the poem:- Lines 8-17: “And the scent of pine needles / And the smell of red clay after rain / And long red necks / And poppy colored faces / And big brown arms / And the field daisy eyes / Of black and white black white black people / And I'm gonna put white hands / And black hands and brown and yellow hands / And red clay earth hands in it”
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“Daybreak in Alabama” 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.
- Colored
- Purtiest
- Dew
- Poppy colored
- Field daisy
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “When I get to be a colored composer”; Line 21: “Get to be a colored composer”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Daybreak in Alabama”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Daybreak in Alabama” Speaker
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“Daybreak in Alabama” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Daybreak in Alabama”
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More “Daybreak in Alabama” Resources
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External Resources
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Overview of Jim Crow segregation — Find out more about the laws and policies of segregation in the 19th and 20th centuries.
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A Musical Adaptation of the Poem — Listen to this musical adaptation of Hughes's poem composed by Ricky Ian Gordon and sung by Audra MacDonald.
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A Short Biography of Langston Hughes — Find out more about Langston Hughes through this biography covering his life and work.
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The Poem Out Loud — Listen to an interpretation of "Daybreak of Alabama" by Tyree Walker, an actor from Alabama.
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The Harlem Renaissance — Learn more about the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and '30s.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes
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