Vagabonds, Langston Hughes

We are the desperate
Who do not care.
The hungry
Who have nowhere
To eat.
No place to sleep.
The tearless
Who cannot
Weep.

The text “Vagabonds” is a poem about vagabonds written by Langston Hughes. The writer personified in a vagabond and tells the readers how one of them defines himself, his companions and their conditions of life.
The text can be divided into four parts: the four sentences the writer uses to define vagabonds. They can be summed up in the following four headings: desperate, hungry, homeless and tearless. Four adjectives that make up in the readers’ minds a strong imagine of the vagabond’s life.
The author describes the scene in a very simple way, using simple words that can be understood by everybody and a simple and linear syntax. He started new paragraphs many times, using the enjambment. This way words like “nowhere” or “cannot” stand out and underline the sense of loneliness. There are also some rhymes (care-nowhere, eat-sleep-weep) that give the poem a syncopated rhythm. The poem evokes a sad atmosphere and a very realistic vision of life.