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!

From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Copyright © 1994 the Estate of Langston Hughes. Used with permission.

---

Poems by This Author

Dream Variations by Langston Hughes To fling my arms wide Dreams by Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreams I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes Let America be America again. Madam and Her Madam by Langston Hughes I worked for a woman, Madam and the Phone Bill by Langston Hughes You say I O.K.ed Night Funeral in Harlem by Langston Hughes Night funeral Po' Boy Blues by Langston Hughes When I was home de The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes I've known rivers The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Theme for English B by Langston Hughes The instructor said, Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too? by Langston Hughes Over There, / World War II. / Dear Fellow Americans,

Further Reading

Poems about Living "I'm afraid of death" by Kathleen Ossip Another Elegy by Jericho Brown Ashes of Life by Edna St. Vincent Millay August, 1953 by David Wojahn Characteristics of Life by Camille T. Dungy Coda by Marilyn Hacker Daily Life by Susan Wood Difficult Body by Mark Wunderlich Elegy in Joy [excerpt] by Muriel Rukeyser far memory by Lucille Clifton First Things to Hand by Robert Pinsky Frozen by Natasha Head How to Uproot a Tree by Jennifer K. Sweeney Insomnia by Alicia Suskin Ostriker Life by Joe Brainard Little Night Prayer by Péter Kántor Living in Numbers by Claire Lee Lost and Found by Ron Padgett Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus [excerpt] by Denise Levertov On Living by Nazim Hikmet One Train May Hide Another by Kenneth Koch Primitive State [excerpt] by Anselm Berrigan Samurai Song by Robert Pinsky Spent by Mark Doty sugar is smoking by Jason Schneiderman Tear It Down by Jack Gilbert The Layers by Stanley Kunitz The Pain by Laura Kasischke The Secret by Denise Levertov Thrown as if Fierce & Wild by Dean Young What the Living Do by Marie Howe What Wild-Eyed Murderer by Peter Meinke Where I Live by Maxine Kumin won't you celebrate with me by Lucille Clifton Yellow Beak by Stephen Dobyns