"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.

• Read the full text of “The Ballad of the Landlord”

• “The Ballad of the Landlord” Summary

• “The Ballad of the Landlord” Themes

  • 

    Racism in Society

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-33

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Ballad of the Landlord”

  • Lines 1-4

    Landlord, landlord, ...
    ... Way last week?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-8

    Landlord, landlord, ...
    ... don't fall down.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-12

    Ten Bucks you ...
    ... house up new.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    What? You gonna ...
    ... in the street?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    Um-huh! You talking ...
    ... fist on you.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 21-24

    Police! Police! ...
    ... overturn the land!

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-29

    Copper's whistle! ...
    ... Iron cell.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-33

    Headlines in press: ...
    ... IN COUNTY JAIL!

    

    

    

    

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• “The Ballad of the Landlord” Symbols

  • 

    The Landlord

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Landlord, landlord,”
    • Line 5: “Landlord, landlord,”
    • Line 31: “MAN THREATENS LANDLORD”
  • 

    The Broken House

    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?”

• “The Ballad of the Landlord” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    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!”

  • Colloquialism

    

    

    

    

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    Where colloquialism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “Don't you 'member I told you about it / Way last week?”
    • Line 6: “These steps is broken down.”
    • Line 9: “Ten Bucks”
    • Line 10: “Ten Bucks”
    • Line 11: “Ten Bucks”
    • 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?”
    • Line 17: “Um-huh!,” “high and mighty”
    • Line 18: “Talk on—till you get through.”

  • Aporia

    

    

    

    

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    Where aporia appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “Don't you 'member I told you about it / Way last week?”
    • Lines 9-10: “Ten Bucks you say I owe you? / Ten Bucks you say is due?”
    • Lines 13-16: “What? You gonna get eviction orders? / You gonna cut off my heat? / You gonna take my furniture and / Throw it in the street?”

  • Caesura

    

    

    

    

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    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Landlord, landlord”
    • Line 5: “Landlord, landlord”
    • Line 11: “Well, that's”
    • Line 13: “What? You”
    • Line 17: “Um-huh! You”
    • Line 18: “on—till”
    • Line 21: “Police! Police!”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Landlord, landlord,”
    • Line 3: “Don't,” “told,” “it”
    • Line 4: “Way,” “week”
    • Line 5: “Landlord, landlord,”
    • Line 6: “down”
    • Line 8: “wonder,” “don't,” “down”
    • Line 9: “Ten,” “Bucks”
    • Line 10: “Ten,” “Bucks”
    • Line 11: “that's,” “Ten,” “Bucks”
    • Line 12: “Till,” “fix,” “this,” “house”
    • Line 13: “gonna,” “get”
    • Line 14: “gonna,” “cut,” “heat”
    • Line 15: “gonna,” “take”
    • Line 16: “it,” “street”
    • Line 17: “talking,” “mighty”
    • Line 18: “Talk,” “till,” “get”
    • Line 19: “ain't,” “gonna,” “be,” “able”
    • Line 20: “If,” “fist”
    • Line 25: “Copper's,” “whistle”
    • Line 26: “Patrol,” “bell”
    • Line 27: “Arrest”
    • Line 28: “Precinct,” “Station”
    • Line 29: “cell”
    • Line 30: “press”
    • Line 31: “MAN,” “THREATENS,” “LANDLORD”
    • Line 32: “TENANT,” “HELD,” “NO,” “BAIL”
    • Line 33: “JUDGE,” “GIVES,” “NEGRO,” “90,” “DAYS,” “IN,” “COUNTY,” “JAIL”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “leak”
    • Line 4: “week”
    • Line 6: “down”
    • Line 8: “down”
    • Line 9: “you,” “you”
    • Line 10: “you,” “due”
    • Line 11: “you”
    • Line 12: “you,” “new”
    • Line 14: “heat”
    • Line 16: “street”
    • Line 17: “high,” “mighty”
    • Line 18: “you,” “through”
    • Line 19: “ain't,” “able,” “say”
    • Line 20: “you”
    • Line 22: “man”
    • Line 24: “land”
    • Line 27: “Arrest”
    • Line 29: “cell”
    • Line 30: “press”
    • Line 31: “MAN,” “THREATENS,” “LANDLORD”
    • Line 32: “TENANT,” “HELD,” “BAIL”
    • Line 33: “NEGRO,” “90,” “COUNTY,” “JAIL”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Landlord,” “landlord”
    • Line 2: “leak”
    • Line 4: “Way,” “week”
    • Line 5: “Landlord,” “landlord”
    • Line 6: “down”
    • Line 8: “don't,” “down”
    • Line 9: “Ten Bucks”
    • Line 10: “Ten Bucks”
    • Line 11: “Ten Bucks”
    • Line 12: “Till”
    • Line 13: “You,” “gonna get”
    • Line 14: “You,” “gonna”
    • Line 15: “You,” “gonna”
    • Line 17: “talking”
    • Line 18: “Talk,” “till”
    • Line 21: “Police,” “Police”
    • Line 33: “JUDGE,” “JAIL”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “it / Way”
    • Lines 7-8: “yourself / It's”
    • Lines 11-12: “you / Till”
    • Lines 15-16: “and / Throw”
    • Lines 19-20: “word / If”
    • Lines 23-24: “government / And”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 21-33: “Police! Police! / Come and get this man! / He's trying to ruin the government / And overturn the land! / Copper's whistle! / Patrol bell! / Arrest. / Precinct Station. / Iron cell. / Headlines in press: / MAN THREATENS LANDLORD / TENANT HELD NO BAIL / JUDGE GIVES NEGRO 90 DAYS IN COUNTY JAIL!”

• “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
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Landlord, landlord,”; Line 5: “Landlord, landlord,”; Line 31: “LANDLORD”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Ballad of the Landlord”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Ballad of the Landlord” Speaker

• “The Ballad of the Landlord” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Ballad of the Landlord”

• More “The Ballad of the Landlord” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Biography of Langston Hughes — Learn about the poem's author.

    • 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."

    • A History of the Harlem Renaissance — Learn about the black intellectual, literary, and artistic movement that Langston Hughes took part in.

    • Hughes Reads a Poem Aloud — Watch a video of Langston Hughes reading aloud "The Weary Blues," accompanied by a live band.

    • 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.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes

    • As I Grew Older

    • Aunt Sue's Stories

    • Cross

    • Daybreak in Alabama

    • Democracy

    • Dreams

    • Dream Variations

    • Harlem

    • Homecoming

    • I Look at the World

    • I, Too

    • Let America Be America Again

    • Mother to Son

    • Night Funeral in Harlem

    • Theme for English B

    • The Negro Speaks of Rivers

    • The Weary Blues

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