As Befits A Man: Langston Hughes
...n" is somewhat an overstatement. Every person does care about themselves dying. When the speaker mentioned that the women "holler, cry and moan" would make him "fine" is a paradox because in the time of grieving, no one is fine. Both these examples points out that the somewhat self-gratifying irony of dying with that last wish is totally absurd yet matured. The condescending tone due to repetition of "fish-tail" suggest that Hughes' colloquial use of diction implies that the poem is informal. The total meaning of the poem is about a guy who wants to live a little bit longer but has to accept the fact that everyone dies. He expressed his wish that the speaker wants to die peacefully with style through the poem's emotional sentimental voice in the speaker's diction. Hughes' even used flowers as to symbolize life in which every person just like a flower dies and fades away. The sentence style of "As Befits A Man" is vari...