Life Is Fine Analysis

I went down to the river,

I set down on the bank.

I tried to think but couldn't,

So I jumped in and sank.



I came up once and hollered!

I came up twice and cried!

If that water hadn't a-been so cold

I might've sunk and died.



     But it was      Cold in that water!      It was cold!



I took the elevator

Sixteen floors above the ground.

I thought about my baby

And thought I would jump down.



I stood there and I hollered!

I stood there and I cried!

If it hadn't a-been so high

I might've jumped and died.



     But it was      High up there!      It was high!



So since I'm still here livin',

I guess I will live on.

I could've died for love--

But for livin' I was born



Though you may hear me holler,

And you may see me cry--

I'll be dogged, sweet baby,

If you gonna see me die.



     Life is fine!      Fine as wine!      Life is fine!

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I think this poem can be about any body, like a man or a woman, meaning in my opinion i feel this poem is about a pregnant girl that is afraid of having the baby so she trys to kill herself, but realizes that isnt the answer.

| Posted on 2009-10-17 | by a guest

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was wondering what kind of stylistic devise Hughes uses in his poem life is fine

| Posted on 2009-10-15 | by a guest

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It's about someone who got ditched and tries to suicide now. But because he can't endure the pain of dying he gives up dying. Life is fine is very sarcastic: "If I can't die, I have no other choise but to live and to pretend that it is fine like wine"

| Posted on 2009-08-26 | by a guest

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i think if u want to kill urself excuses like "it was high" is something someone wud say if they didnt completely want to kill them self i mean after all u dont fear much when ur dead

| Posted on 2009-07-22 | by a guest

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We can see through this poem a strength of willingness of living. The character in the poem wants to commit suicide but in vain. Is it because of the cold river and the height of the building? I thought that when someone wants to jump down, they would choose the highest building to do it. When someone has already wanted to die, it's no matter how other things around happen for that person wants only to die. But in this poem of Langston Hughes, the character is still aware of cold and height which means in his or her innermost, there is a still a thirst for life. Also, why is the title of the poem "Life is fine"? In my opinion, life is fine. It has all the miseries to pull us down but as we want to give up, it gives us power to stand up again. Everything life has been giving to us is given for a reason. And as we live more, face it more, we understand failure and success, life and death... And we will agree that life is not good or bad but "fine". And we live on.

| Posted on 2009-06-17 | by a guest

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langston hughes was trying to explain to the readers that in life we may go through many problems and sometimes to make them go away we go to drastic measures BUT just like the person in this poem we realize that we have much more to live for than we thought.

| Posted on 2009-03-04 | by a guest

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Can somebody make a list of the literary elements in this poem...

| Posted on 2009-02-11 | by a guest

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Hi guys, I'm writing exam about "life is fine" tomorrow... The speaker's life isn't really fine because he wants to drown himself, but his spirit is strong. His unhappiness is possibly caused by a love that has left him.
The purpose of the italic refrain is that is highlights why he didn't commit suicide.
And the simile "life is fine/ fine like wine" emphasises that he's drinking away his sorrow, and also that he wanted to drown himself.

| Posted on 2008-11-12 | by a guest

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Hi guys, I'm writing exam about "life is fine" tomorrow... The speaker's life isn't really fine because he wants to drown himself, but his spirit is strong. His unhappiness is possibly caused by a love that has left him.
The purpose of the italic refrain is that is highlights why he didn't commit suicide.
And the simile "life is fine/ fine like wine" emphasises that he's drinking away his sorrow, and also that he wanted to drown himself.

| Posted on 2008-11-12 | by a guest

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Langston Hughes wrote this poem about suicide and how easy it is to intentionally drown yourself or jump off the top of a building. And even if it doesn't seem like life is worth living, there is someone out there who cares. The person about to jump off the top of a building in this poem stopped himself because he realized the harm it would do to his child.
Hughes talks about how the water was "cold" and that is what stopped the person from drowning. Similar to the water, life was cold (harsh) to that person. But once the person got out of the water, they were warm again and realized that, like the temperature, life can change.
The person who almost jumped off the top of the building didn't because it was "high." However, the height of the building wasn't the only high thing. The person who almost jumped was also high. Not high on life, but high on death.
"So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born"
^^we are all born for many reasons. Intentional death, however, is not on of them.
As many people have told me, suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem.

| Posted on 2008-10-25 | by a guest

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Langston Hughes wrote this poem about suicide and how easy it is to intentionally drown yourself or jump off the top of a building. And even if it doesn't seem like life is worth living, there is someone out there who cares. The person about to jump off the top of a building in this poem stopped himself because he realized the harm it would do to his child.
Hughes talks about how the water was "cold" and that is what stopped the person from drowning. Similar to the water, life was cold (harsh) to that person. But once the person got out of the water, they were warm again and realized that, like the temperature, life can change.
The person who almost jumped off the top of the building didn't because it was "high." However, the height of the building wasn't the only high thing. The person who almost jumped was also high. Not high on life, but high on death.
"So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born"
^^we are all born for many reasons. Intentional death, however, is not on of them.
As many people have told me, suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem.

| Posted on 2008-10-25 | by a guest

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well the tone of this poem is clearly cho'd. If you look carefully at the 5th line, you can clearly see a cho'd.
mmm steway

| Posted on 2008-07-09 | by a guest

.: the poem :.

I just can't figure out the freakin tone to this poem Not trying to be rude but I need to know.So if anyone know pst a comment!

| Posted on 2008-04-02 | by a guest