No Loser, No Weeper

No Loser, No Weeper

By Maya Angelou

“I hate to lose something,”
then she bent her head,
“even a dime, I wish I was dead.
I can’t explain it. No more to be said.
‘Cept I hate to lose something.

“I lost a doll once and cried for a week.
She could open her eyes, and do all but speak.
I believe she was took, by some doll-snatching sneak.
I tell you, I hate to lose something.

“A watch of mine once, got up and walked away.
It had twelve numbers on it and for the time of day.
I’ll never forget it and all I can say
is I really hate to lose something.

Now if I felt that way ‘bout a watch and a toy,
what you think I feel ‘bout my lover-boy?
I ain’t threatening you, madam, but he is my evening’s joy.
And I mean I really hate to lose something.”

Summary of No Loser, No Weeper

  • Popularity of “No Loser, No Weeper”: The poem ‘No Loser, No Weeper’ was written by Maya Angelou, a celebrated American poet, and civil rights activist. This poem has an interesting point about a common thematic strand. It was first published around 1971 and sheds light on the dilemma of losing things in life. It also illustrates how these losses make us stand on the verge of depression, restlessness, and extreme terror. Although this simple poem depicts the poet’s ideas and feelings, innocent diction and figurative language further added charm to it.
  • “No Loser, No Weeper” As a Representative of Sadness: The poem skilfully captures the disturbed emotional state of the speaker growing up during the depression, using powerful poetic elements. The speaker’s narrative begins with a lamenting tone as she accounts for her fear of losing something. She seems so depressed that she fears losing even a small coin. Her narration of her present anguish clearly suggests that she may have faced profound adversities in life, the reasons for which remain unexplained. As the poem progresses, she narrates some heart-wrenching incidents that became the reason for her fright. She recalls two suspicious thefts to clarify how these tragedies make people emotionally weak. After talking about material losses, she states that losing someone is far more painful than losing material objects. Therefore, she warns other women to stay away from her love, who is her evening joy.
  • Major Themes in “No Loser, No Weeper”: Mental and emotional disturbance, damaging impacts of losing something, and sadness are the major themes of the poem. Throughout the poem, the poet states that she hates losing things and explains the reasons for that. This short yet symbolic piece also shows how these disasters have pressed her both emotionally and mentally. In the first three stanzas, she talks about the pain she has endured after losing her possessions. However, the last stanza states her concern for the one who marks the center of her life. Through this poem, the speaker conveys the idea that the one who loses always cries.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in No Loser, No Weeper

Poetic devices empower the poets to give deeper meanings to their seemingly simple texts. Maya Angelou used some literary devices in this poem. The analysis of the devices used in this poem is as follows.

  1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /oo/ in “is I really hate to lose something” and “I tell you, I hate to lose something”.
  2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /s/ in “some doll-snatching sneak” and the sound of /h/ in “then she bent her head”.
  3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as and the sound of /n/ in “A watch of mine once, got up and walked away”.
  4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example,

“I’ll never forget it and all I can say
is I really hate to lose something.”

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses.For example, “A watch of mine once, got up and walked away”, “I lost a doll once and cried for a week” and “She could open her eyes, and do all but speak”.
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different in nature. The poet used losing as an extended metaphor in the poem to show that sometimes people are seen attached to their possessions; they fail to bear their loss.
  3. Personification: Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects. The poet has personified watch in the ending stanza of the poem such as; “A watch of mine once, got up and walked away.”
  4. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. Losing something symbolizes anxiety, depression and sadness.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in No Loser, No Weeper

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
  2. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here, second and third stanzas are quatrains.
  3. Repetition: There is a repetition of the verse “I hate to lose something” which has created a musical quality in the poem.
  4. Refrain: The lines occurring repeatedly at some distance in a poem are called a refrain. The verse “I hate to lose something” is, therefore, a refrain.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from the poem “No Loser, No Weeper” are useful while talking about the people who fail to bear loses in life; they go into extreme depression when they lose something.

“I hate to lose something,”
then she bent her head,
“even a dime, I wish I was dead.
I can’t explain it. No more to be said.
‘Cept I hate to lose something.”

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