Poetry and music are both used to express feelings or provide insight into situations that the authors find meaningful. Minstrels have historically blended these two arts in acts around the world; they combined poetry readings with instruments. Both music and poetry have a rhythm that serves as a foundation for a spiritual connection. Music has long focused on creating a feeling in the audience. Jazz in particular focuses on improvisations, combining rhythms and creating a "swing" or feeling that creates an instinctive response. Although jazz began as an American movement with a single type, it grew into an international genre made up of many different subgenres. The blues became one of the main types of jazz among African Americans. Brooks and Hughes each take long-standing traditions of the Blues and use them to express feelings that cannot be expressed in simple words. They argue that creating connection through communication depends less on what is communicated and more on how it is communicated. In his poem “The Weary Blues,” Langston Hughes is written in free verse to imitate the natural patterns of speech and music. This poem, as its title suggests, focuses on the blues, a musical style invented to express deep pain; Blues songs are usually performed by individuals to create a sense of loneliness in the grief-stricken lyrics. Hughes' verse creates a natural sway to the somber tune as the musician rocks on his stool; the speaker describes the song as "melancholic". Interestingly, “melancholy” perfectly describes the ending of the poem. While the musician taps his foot and Hughes repeats this rhythm, the singer sleeps like a dead man. Simply by communicating through music with...... middle of paper ...... the reader to think in a different state of mind. In creating this state of mind, Hughes and Brooks communicate thousands of years of black history, while the speaker of "The Weary Blues" makes the singer's blues resonate in his head, just as we have the thoughts tired of past generations that resonate in ours. Their creative use of words creates a connection between the performer and the audience through communication style. Hughes doesn't just use the heartbreak of the singer's lyrics; he uses the moan of the piano to express his sorrow. Brooks doesn't just think about the life choices of young boys; she forces the reader to think from her point of view. Brooks creates a connection between the speaker and the reader through communication style. Using these styles, Hughes and Brooks prove that creating connections depends less on what is said and more on the music that drives the poetry..