Till you fix this house up new.
What? You gonna get eviction orders?
You gonna cut off my heat?
You gonna take my furniture and
Throw it in the street?
Um-huh! You talking high and mighty.
Talk on-till you get through.
You ain't gonna be able to say a word
If I land my fist on you.
Police! Police!
Come and get this man!
He's trying to ruin the government
And overturn the land!
Copper's whistle!
Patrol bell!
Arrest.
Hughes presents a situation where the tenant threatens to fight back against his landlord’s treatment. This stanza represents the predominantly white society’s reaction to the threat of change, specifically in regards to a movement against the oppression and prejudice inflicted on the black man.
The Ballad Of The Landlord