{
 "id": "langston-hughes/brass-spitoons",
 "title": "Brass Spitoons",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Langston Hughes",
 "poet_slug": "langston-hughes",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Poetry",
 "book_slug": null,
 "book_kind": "compilation",
 "sequence": null,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1926,
  "venue": "New Masses (December 1926), as “Brass Spittoons”",
  "note": "Located on pages 10–11 of the December 1926 issue in the New Masses run on disk, one of “Four Poems By Langston Hughes” with “Brass Spittoons”, “Saturday Night”, “Argument” and “The New Girl”. The issue dates itself: “Volume 2 December, 1926 Number 2”, and every page carries “December, 1926” as a running head.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/v01n05-sep-1926-New-Masses/v02n02-dec-1926-New-Masses"
  ]
 },
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  "file": "poetry.xhtml",
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   "https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001021002",
   "https://scalar.lehigh.edu/african-american-poetry-a-digital-anthology/langston-hughes-fine-clothes-to-the-jew-1927-full-text.1",
   "https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003138045",
   "https://archive.org/details/newnegrointerpre00unse",
   "http://childlit.unl.edu/topics/edi.brownies.html",
   "https://archive.org/details/the-brownies-book",
   "https://archive.org/details/crisis2324dubo",
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   "https://archive.org/details/sim_crisis_1926-10_32_6",
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   "https://archive.org/details/sim_crisis_the-crisis_1930-07_37_7",
   "https://archive.org/details/hughes_ny_amsterdam_1923-04-25",
   "https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008956003",
   "https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006784879",
   "https://archive.org/details/sim_opportunity-a-journal-of-negro-life_1925-03_3_27",
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   "https://archive.org/details/sim_opportunity-a-journal-of-negro-life_1930-06_8_6",
   "https://archive.org/details/sim_opportunity-a-journal-of-negro-life_1930-12_8_12",
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   "https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes",
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  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-12"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 40,
  "n_stanzas": 1,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 48,
  "max_indent": 1
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 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "Clean the spitoons, boy.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Detroit,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Chicago,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Atlantic City,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Palm Beach.",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Clean the spitoons.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The steam in hotel kitchens,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the smoke in hotel lobbies,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the slime in hotel spitoons:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Part of my life.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hey, boy!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A nickel,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A dime,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A dollar,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Two dollars a day.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hey, boy!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A nickel,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A dime,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A dollar,",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Two dollars",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Buys shoes for the baby.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "House rent to pay.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Gin on Saturday,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Church on Sunday.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "My God!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "Babies and girl and church",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "and women and Sunday",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "all mixed up with dimes and",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "dollars and clean spitoons",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "and house rent to pay.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hey, boy!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A bright bowl of brass is beautiful to the Lord.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bright polished brass like the cymbals",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Of King David’s dancers,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Like the wine cups of Solomon.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Hey, boy!",
    "indent": 1
   },
   {
    "text": "A clean spitoon on the altar of the Lord.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A clean bright spitoon all newly polished⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "At least I can offer that.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Com’ mere, boy!",
    "indent": 1
   }
  ]
 ]
}