The Full Text of “The Ballad of the Landlord”
The Full Text of “The Ballad of the Landlord”
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“The Ballad of the Landlord” Introduction
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"The Ballad of the Landlord" is a 1940 poem by Langston Hughes. One of the best-known figures of the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes was inspired by his own time in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. The poem's speaker describes the experience of being a black tenant trying to get his white landlord to make basic, essential repairs to the property he's renting. Instead of making the repairs, however, the landlord—emboldened by the powerful status society confers on him as a presumably white, wealthy man opposite a black man—seizes the opportunity to unfairly exploit his tenant, the speaker.
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“The Ballad of the Landlord” Summary
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The speaker repeatedly addresses his landlord, saying that his roof is leaking. The speaker already reported this issue to the landlord a week ago.
The speaker repeatedly addresses the landlord again, this time saying that his front steps are broken. The speaker expresses surprise that the landlord doesn't trip and fall when he tries to climb up them.
The landlord, much to the speaker's indignation, demands that the speaker pay him ten dollars. The speaker incredulously repeats the fact that the landlord think's the speaker owes him ten dollars. The speaker refuses to pay at all until the landlord makes these repairs and the speaker's house is as good as new.
The speaker taunts the landlord, asking what he's going to do now that the speaker won't pay him. Will he kick the speaker out? Turn off his heat? Throw him and all his stuff out into the street?
The speaker notes that now the landlord is getting a snobby attitude and talking down to the speaker. The speakers tells the landlord to just keep on talking—but that he won't be able to say a word if the speaker punches him.
The landlord frantically calls for the police, saying: "Arrest this man! He's threatening the governmental order by threatening to not pay me and trying to spark a revolution!"
The policeman blows his whistle. The police car sounds its siren. The speaker is arrested.
The speaker is taken to the local police station and put in an iron cell. The media write about his arrest, with a headline stating that a man who threatened his landlord is now being held in jail with no option to get out on bail. The man is black, the headline notes, and has been sentenced by the judge to 90 days in jail.
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“The Ballad of the Landlord” Themes
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Racism in Society
In “Ballad of the Landlord,” the speaker, a black man, describes the discrimination he faces when making basic maintenance requests of his (presumably white) landlord. Yet while the landlord refuses to make repairs, demands payment despite not doing his job, and talks down to the tenant, it's the tenant who is ultimately arrested for supposedly putting the landlord at risk.
This irony illustrates the hypocrisy and absurdity of racism, which automatically treats black men like the speaker as criminals while letting actual criminals like the landlord off the hook. Such racism, the poem further argues, occurs not only on an individual basis but is reinforced at an institutional level—propagated by the government, law enforcement, and media.
The poem begins with the speaker politely declaring that his “roof has sprung a leak” and that his “steps is broken down.” The speaker apparently told his landlord about these issues “way last week,” and the lack of response indicates a lack of respect and concern on the landlord's part.
The speaker’s tone is still somewhat deferential throughout, however, framing the need for repairs as if they were for the landlord’s own safety: “It’s a wonder you don’t fall down.” This suggests that the speaker must couch his (entirely understandable) request within excessively polite language in order to not offend his landlord. Yet instead of addressing the speaker’s request, the landlord proceeds simply to demand money—a brazen response undoubtedly informed by the landlord's knowledge that he has all the power in this situation.
Specifically the landlord demands “Ten Bucks,” and the speaker knows that the landlord has the power to toss him and all his belonging out onto the street if he refuses to pay. And though the speaker began his approach by being polite, the landlord apparently talks “high and mighty”—rudely and snobbishly—from the get go. This again implies the landlord has no respect for his tenant, and also that he's aware that the tenant will have little recourse to actually fight back against the landlord's behavior.
That's because this behavior is supported by the racist society in which these men live. Indeed, as soon as the speaker stands up for himself and talks back to the landlord, the landlord's tone changes. Instead of being "high and mighty," he becomes indignant and frightened, frantically calling for the police to "arrest" the speaker for trying to spark a revolt and undermine the government.
This is a ridiculous accusation, of course. The speaker hasn't actually done anything wrong here, except threaten to punch the landlord. There's been no actual violence, and readers don't know what the landlord himself has been saying; given the speaker's escalating frustration, in all likelihood the landlord has been threatening the speaker as well.
Yet the police, when they arrive, waste no time in throwing the speaker in jail, without bail. The short lines towards the poem's end allow the action to unfold rapidly, reflecting just how quickly and unquestioningly the tenant is deemed a criminal by the justice system and the media, which automatically put the landlord's well-being above the speaker's. And in a final twist of the knife, the media report about the situation furthers the racist stereotypes that landed the speaker in jail in the first place, painting him has nothing more than a dangerous "negro" even as the real criminal walks free.
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-33
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Ballad of the Landlord”
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Lines 1-4
Landlord, landlord, ...
... Way last week?The poem's first line starts with the address to the landlord ("Landlord, landlord"). The use of caesura—that is, the pause that occurs within the line thanks to the insertion of the comma—adds emphasis to the call for the landlord. It works to slow down the reader, forcing the reader to pause and adding weight to each individual call for the landlord. The alliteration and assonance that occurs naturally within the repeated words allows for a smooth, lyrical reading nonetheless. These devices complement the caesura so that the pause is read as measured but not disruptive.
The speaker must call out to the landlord again and again in order to draw his attention to the leaky roof. The repetition makes it clear who the speaker is addressing while also creating a sense of urgency, as if the speaker is struggling to get the landlord's assistance. Lines 3 and 4 affirm this reading, as it becomes evident that this is already the speaker's second attempt to get the landlord's attention, as he asks:
Don't you 'member I told you about it
Way last week?The question is rhetorical. The speaker already knows that the landlord is aware of the problems with the property—the speaker told him about it a week ago! However, the speaker must also operate within the social hierarchy that demands he, as a black man, show strict respect toward the landlord, who is presumably a white man. The tentative phrasing in the form of a question ("Don't you 'member ... ?") allows the speaker to take on a subservient role. However, the phrase "Way last week" suggests a hint of impatience—the speaker didn't just tell the landlord yesterday, he told him a full week ago. The alliteration in the phrase "Way last week" places emphasis on this fact.
The first stanza consists of four lines. The first six stanzas will mirror this structure, each one a quatrain (a four-line stanza). This pattern will be disrupted in the final seventh, eighth, and ninth stanzas, however, mirroring the increasing emotional intensity as the poem's story develops.
The first stanza also introduces patterns in rhythm and rhyme that will be carried on throughout the first six stanzas but disrupted in the final three. The poem's irregular use of iambic trimeter is introduced in line 2:
My roof has sprung a leak.
There are three feet here, read in a da-DUM (unstressed—stressed) rhythm. This rhythm will continue to appear throughout the first six stanzas, always in the second line of each of the four-line stanzas.
The first stanza further introduces an ABCB rhyme scheme:
Landlord, landlord,
My roof has sprung a leak.
Don't you 'member I told you about it
Way last week?This pattern will also be continued until the final three stanzas. The ABCB rhyme scheme is typical of an English ballad, a poetic form often used to tell a story. "Ballad of the Landlord" fulfills this requirement, even offering a dramatic climax. The first stanza sets the stage for the story to come, introducing the characters (landlord and tenant) and the problem at hand: the dilapidated property that the landlord refuses to fix.
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Lines 5-8
Landlord, landlord, ...
... don't fall down. -
Lines 9-12
Ten Bucks you ...
... house up new. -
Lines 13-16
What? You gonna ...
... in the street? -
Lines 17-20
Um-huh! You talking ...
... fist on you. -
Lines 21-24
Police! Police! ...
... overturn the land! -
Lines 25-29
Copper's whistle! ...
... Iron cell. -
Lines 30-33
Headlines in press: ...
... IN COUNTY JAIL!
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“The Ballad of the Landlord” Symbols
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The Landlord
The landlord is, of course, an actual character in the poem. That said, he also functions as a symbolic figure. Put simply, the landlord represents racist society in general, and the way that such a society empowers white people like the landlord while disenfranchising black people like the tenant.
The landlord is notably corrupt in the poem, trying to demand payment from the tenant before doing his own part to provide a safe, habitable living space. Yet because the tenant is black and the landlord is implied to be white, the landlord faces no repercussions for his actions.
This reflects the way that society more broadly controls and exploits marginalized people, who in turn lack the means and protections to fight back. Indeed, when the speaker does try to stand up to the landlord, he just lands himself in jail; the landlord's word is automatically taken over the speaker's.
Even the poem's title is telling: it's not the ballad of the tenant but rather the ballad of the landlord, despite the fact that the tenant is the speaker of the poem. This reflects the fact that, in a racist society, white individuals have the power to control the narrative—and can use it to keep people of color down.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 1: “Landlord, landlord,”
- Line 5: “Landlord, landlord,”
- Line 31: “MAN THREATENS LANDLORD”
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The Broken House
The dilapidated property that sets off the chain of events depicted in "Ballad of the Landlord" might serve as a symbol for the racist society that the poem critiques. A functioning society treats people equitably; a dysfunctional society fails to guarantee this basic human right. The poem depicts a social order that unfairly empowers the corrupt landlord—presumably because he is white, wealthy, and powerful—while further disenfranchising the already marginalized tenant—a black man with limited power in society.
The house is falling apart: the roof "has sprung a leak" and the "steps is broken down." The landlord doesn't care about fixing the house, however—much like the institutions of power that uphold a racist society don't care about fixing that society. Instead, such institutions rely on keeping the oppressed down, on denying them their full rights and dignity.
As previously noted, the landlord can thus be thought of as representing governmental and social institutions—as he is aligned with the police, the courts, and the media. The landlord even connects himself directly to the government, claiming the tenant is "trying to ruin the government" just by challenging him.
Meanwhile, the tenant represents the disenfranchised members of such a society—including both black people and the poor. References to the "Copper's whistle," "Patrol bell," "Precinct Station," and "Iron cell" all represent forms of oppression used to continue to keep the marginalized individuals down.
In this context, any attempt by the speaker to challenge the power dynamic of landlord/tenant—for example by even hinting at an act of physical aggression—is seen as revolt. It's akin to an attempt to "overturn the land," as the landlord claims in line 24. The individuals and organizations in power are happy to maintain the power dynamic. They don't want to fix the broken house that is their broken society, a society that keeps them in power.
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Line 2: “My roof has sprung a leak.”
- Line 6: “These steps is broken down.”
- Lines 11-12: “Well, that's Ten Bucks more'n I'll pay you / Till you fix this house up new.”
- Lines 13-16: “You gonna get eviction orders? / You gonna cut off my heat? / You gonna take my furniture and / Throw it in the street?”
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“The Ballad of the Landlord” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
Repetition serves a variety of purposes throughout "The Ballad of the Landlord." The first instance is seen in line 1, of course, with the words "Landlord, landlord." This epizeuxis sets the stage for the poem's story, as it becomes clear to the reader that, despite its title, the ballad is actually being told from the perspective of the tenant. The repetition of the address also underscores the fact that the tenant—the speaker—must practically beg to get his landlord's attention, calling for him again and again.
This is further emphasized by the fact that the whole repetitive phrase is itself repeated in line 5. The fact that the tenant already tried to get the landlord to address the repairs to the property "way last week" makes it clear why the tenant is addressing the landlord with multiple calls for attention. The repetition adds a sense of urgency and pressure.
A similar use of repetition to convey urgency is seen in line 21. In this case, it's the landlord's voice, however, and he's calling for law enforcement: "Police! Police!" The epizeuxis reflects that, in the landlord's eyes, this is clearly a pressing matter.
There are other forms of repetition in the poem as well, such as the anaphora of the phrase "Ten Bucks" in lines 9, 10, and 11. In this case, repetition serves a different function in the poem. Instead of creating a sense of urgency, it serves to create a sense of incredulity–of sarcastic or dumbfounded doubt. The speaker uses a rhetorical question to express his disbelief, real or feigned, at the landlord's exploitive behavior:
Ten Bucks you say I owe you?
Ten Bucks you say is due?It's not the amount of money that makes the speaker so incredulous but the fact that the landlord demands any money at all without bothering to do his own part and make the necessary repairs. By reiterating the landlord's ludicrous demand and reflecting it back at him with the repetition of "Ten Bucks," the speaker suggests just how incredible this request is. It's the landlord's duty to maintain the property so asking for cash for such essential repairs is simply criminal.
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 1: “Landlord, landlord,”
- Line 5: “Landlord, landlord,”
- Line 6: “down”
- Line 8: “down”
- Line 9: “Ten Bucks,” “you,” “you”
- Line 10: “Ten Bucks,” “you”
- Line 11: “Ten Bucks,” “you”
- Line 12: “you”
- Line 13: “You gonna”
- Line 14: “You gonna”
- Line 15: “You gonna”
- Line 21: “Police! Police!”
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Colloquialism
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Aporia
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Caesura
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Consonance
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Assonance
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Alliteration
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Enjambment
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Irony
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"The Ballad of the Landlord" 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.
- Landlord
- Ten Bucks
- Eviction
- Um-huh
- High and mighty
- Overturn the land
- Copper's whistle
- Patrol bell
- Precinct Station
- Tenant
- Bail
- Negro
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “Landlord, landlord,”; Line 5: “Landlord, landlord,”; Line 31: “LANDLORD”)
The owner of a property that is rented or leased to another person (the "tenant"). The tenant pays the landlord rent, usually a monthly sum.
The landlord is obligated to provide safe and secure housing. Usually a "lease agreement" between the tenant and landlord outlines repairs and other tasks the landlord is responsible for taking care of, such as fixing a leaky roof or keeping common areas clean. The laws regulating the obligations of landlords have developed over time—tenants are better protected today than they were in the past.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Ballad of the Landlord”
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Form
"Ballad of the Landlord" has some traits of a traditional ballad—a type of poem that tells a story. This poem relays an anecdote, complete with a dramatic ending. English-language ballads are typically composed of four-line stanzas, following an ABCB rhyme scheme. The first six stanzas of the poem are indeed quatrains (four-line stanzas) and also adhere to the ballad format in terms of rhyme scheme.
In the final three stanzas, however, this structure is broken. Stanzas seven, eight, and nine are tercets, stanzas of only three lines each. These also feature a break in the poem's rhyme scheme and an abrupt transition to a short, staccato rhythm here—an effect further complemented by abrupt punctuation, like the exclamation marks in lines 25 ("whistle!") and 26 ("bell!").
This interruption speaks to the poem's surge in emotional intensity. The story begins with what seems like a civil conversation between landlord and tenant. The tenant becomes increasingly frustrated as he recognizes the landlord's exploitive behavior, however. As he describes the dramatic climax—being thrown in jail—the frenetic, irregular form, meter, and rhyme scheme reflect the speaker's own heightened emotions.
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Meter
The first six stanzas of the poem make frequent us of iambic rhythms, meaning the lines are filled with poetic feet with syllables falling in a da-DUM pattern. This often takes the specific form of iambic trimeter, which just means there are three iambs—three da-DUMs—per line. Take line 2:
My roof has sprung a leak.
There are three steady iambs here, da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM. Much of the poem is written using this meter. The third lines of each of the first six stanzas, however, are longer than the rest (apart from line 7). This is typical of ballad meters, which consist of alternating lines of iambic trimeter and iambic tetrameter (which just means there are four iambs, four da-DUMs, as opposed to three).
Look at stanza 3. Line 11 is very irregular, to be fair, but you can still see there are four stressed beats as opposed to three in the other lines:
Ten Bucks you say I owe you?
Ten Bucks you say is due?
Well, that's Ten Bucks more'n I'll pay you
Till you fix this house up new.In the next stanza, the third line (line 15 overall) again has four stressed beats instead of three, meaning it again is iambic tetrameter:
You gonna take my furniture and
The ballad meter isn't perfect throughout the poem. For example, the first line of each of these stanzas is often a bit different. "Landlord, landlord" is two trochees, which are essentially the opposite of an iamb; they go from a stressed beat to an unstressed beat. The first lines of stanzas 3-6 similarly end with unstressed beats: "owe you," "orders," "mighty."
Overall, though, the rhythm is still pretty consistently rising—that is, moving from unstressed beats to stressed beats. The first six stanzas, which feature mostly iambic trimeter with occasional anapests (da-da-DUM) or other variations sprinkled in.
This reflects the speaker's somewhat deferential tone; think about how, when asking a question, your voice tends to rise at the end of the phrase. The general sensation of rising rhythm in these stanzas might reflect the speaker trying to remain polite, and simply to remain calm and collected even as his frustration with his slimy landlord mounts.
But as with form and rhyme scheme, any regularity in the meter completely breaks down in the final three stanzas as the speaker's voice disappears from the poem. The lines become much shorter and take on a staccato rhythm with short, consecutive points of emphasis. Take the sixth stanza, for example (lines 25 through 27):
Copper's whistle!
Patrol bell!
Arrest.The exclamation points emphasize the shortness of the lines, each one consisting of only one or two words. These lines are so short—the longest has only four syllables with "Copper's whistle!"—that they don't even have enough syllables to allow for the possibility of iambic trimeter or tetrameter.
This stark break with form in the last three stanzas mirrors the emotional intensity of the situation. The speaker has no control or say over what's happening anymore, and the poem's deteriorating meter reflects that fact.
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Rhyme Scheme
The first six stanzas of the poem, in keeping with the traditional poetic form of a ballad, follow an ABCB rhyme scheme:
Landlord, landlord,
My roof has sprung a leak.
Don't you 'member I told you about it
Way last week?Stanzas 7, 8, and 9 break the pattern. Firstly, instead of quatrains (four-line stanzas) they are tercets, meaning they are just three lines each. Each line is also no more than one to three words, creating a brisk, staccato effect. Meanwhile, in the final stanza, the disruption is accentuated by the use of all-caps, representing the "headlines" of the media.
Despite the disruption to the ABCB pattern, the final three tercets still present some regularity in terms of rhyme scheme:
A "whistle"
B "bell"
C "Arrest"D "Station"
B "cell"
C "press"E "LANDLORD"
F "BAIL"
F "JAIL"This new form might reflect the idea that the social system the speaker and the landlord inhabit remains intact; it just has its own rules that are different from those followed by the speaker.
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“The Ballad of the Landlord” Speaker
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The poem's speaker is a black man who is renting a rather dilapidated house from a landlord—who, in turn, refuses to make the necessary repairs.
The speaker carefully criticizes the racist and classist society he is living in by exposing the unjust treatment he, a black tenant, receives at the hands of his presumably white landlord. Commenting on this injustice is in itself an act of resistance. However, the speaker recognizes that if he fails to "toe the line" of the system—that is, if he is too overtly critical or rebellious—he will be the one to suffer. He thus turns to hypothetical statements and rhetorical questions to call out the landlord's behavior.
The speaker's growing, understandable frustration becomes clearer as the poem moves forward, until he is silenced altogether: the final stanza robs the speaker of his voice, and is instead written in the conventional language and style of a newspaper headline.
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“The Ballad of the Landlord” Setting
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The poem presumably takes place at the tenant's house as he is requesting repairs from his landlord. Beyond that, the poem does not note any specific setting. Given Langston Hughes's own historical relationship with New York City's Harlem neighborhood, however (where he lived on and off from the 1920s onward), the poem might be set there, or in a similar location before the Civil Rights movement or modern tenant protection laws were put in place.
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Ballad of the Landlord”
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Literary Context
Born in 1901 or 1902 (sources differ) Langston Hughes grew up in a time of massive cultural upheaval for black people in America. He was born in Joplin, Missouri, and went on to study at Columbia University in New York City. Although he dropped out, he put down roots in New York's Harlem neighborhood, living there sporadically from the 1920s until the day he died (he also traveled a great deal, however, and even worked as a crewman on a ship in 1923).
Hughes's first known published poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," was published in The Crisis, the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). "Ballad of the Landlord" was published in 1940, a full two decades later. In that span of time, Hughes established himself as a literary leader in the Harlem Renaissance, a blossoming of black culture centered in Harlem from about 1918 to 1937. This renaissance encompassed not only literature but also music, theater, and visual arts. Participants in the movement aimed to rethink "the negro" and to establish a black identity apart from white stereotypes. Hughes, sometimes called "Poet Laureate of Harlem," was a driving figure, alongside black writers like Zora Neale Hurston and Countee Cullen. He spurred the movement onwards with his nuanced depictions of everyday lives of black working-class America—injustices and all.
Hughes cited Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as influences on his writing. He was also influenced by traditionally black American cultural forms, such as blues and jazz music. He would often incorporate syncopated rhythms and jive language into poems, reflecting the improvisational nature of jazz music. In fact, Hughes is recognized as an early innovator of jazz poetry, which is known for its jazz-like rhythm and the feeling of improvisation it often creates.
In addition to poetry, Hughes also wrote novels, plays, essays, and autobiographies.
Historical Context
The cultural upheaval that Hughes lived through in his lifetime was paralleled by social and political change for black history in America. Change was often slow to come about and frequently tempestuous, however.
For context, consider the fact that in 1901—around when Hughes was born—Booker T. Washington, a man born into slavery, became the first black person invited to dine at the White House. In 1909, the NAACP was founded. Its goals included the abolition of all forced segregation and equal education for blacks and whites. Hughes would later publish in the NAACP magazine, The Crisis, on numerous occasions.
Meanwhile, the United States continued to exploit black Americans not only culturally but politically. In World War II, for instance, black men were called upon to fight for their country. It wasn't until 1948, however, that President Harry S. Truman finally integrated the U.S. Armed Forces, and schools weren't racially integrated until the 1950s and '60s.
Black tenants in Harlem (and, in fact, across the entire nation) in the 1920s and 1930s also infamously faced discriminatory rental rates. Since black workers were also often paid less at the time, black tenants were sometimes short on rent. A "rent party" was the solution: people would host a gathering, open up their apartment for the night, and charge guests a fee in exchange for the chance to attend the party. In addition to an opportunity to socialize, many also offered live music and dancing. Food was available at extra cost. The hosts would use the money they got and put it towards rent.
Hughes collected multiple Harlem rent party advertisements so presumably would have attended some of these events. The ads were found with his belongings when he passed on and are kept with his papers at Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Hughes died in 1967, just one year before the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was passed. It is considered one of the last great legislative achievements of the civil rights era and sought to eliminate racial discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing. These were precisely the issues that Hughes exposed with "The Ballad of the Landlord," published 27 years earlier.
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More “The Ballad of the Landlord” Resources
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External Resources
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A Biography of Langston Hughes — Learn about the poem's author.
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Hughes's Essay in Defense of Black Art — In 1926, George Schuyler, the editor of a black paper in Pittsburgh, wrote the article "The Negro-Art Hokum." In it, he discounted the existence of "Negro art" and argued that African-American artists shared the same European influences as their white counterparts—and were thus creating the same style of work. He dismissed clearly "black" creative works, like spirituals and jazz, as "folk art." Hughes was invited to make a rebuttal. In response, he wrote "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain."
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A History of the Harlem Renaissance — Learn about the black intellectual, literary, and artistic movement that Langston Hughes took part in.
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Hughes Reads a Poem Aloud — Watch a video of Langston Hughes reading aloud "The Weary Blues," accompanied by a live band.
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Modern Day Landlord-Tenant Exploitation — The issues addressed in "The Ballad of the Landlord" are still present. Read about the ways in which poor Americans are sometimes exploited by landlords today.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes
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