Langston Hughes
is considered by many readers to be the most significant black poet of the twentieth century. He is described as ³...the beloved author of poems steeped in the richness of African American culture, poems that exude Hughes¹s affection for black Americans across all divisions of region, class, and gender.² (Rampersad 3) His writing was both depressing and uplifting at times. His poetry, spanning five decades from 1926 to 1967, reflected the changing black experience in America, from the Harlem Renaissance to the turbulent sixties. At the beginning of his career, he was surrounded by the Harlem Renaissance. New York City in the 1920¹s was a place of immense growth and richness in ...
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matter of Hughes¹s poetry can be linked to certain points in history, and his life. The youth of Hughes is brought out by his poem ³Harlem Night Club², a piece which describes living in the moment. Often children do not consider the consequences of their actions; they act on instinct and desire. Hughes might have been 27 when he wrote this poem, but the feisty, upbeat tempo of a school boy is present in his style. ³Harlem Night Club² is unique in that it describes the integration of blacks and whites in an optimistic tone. The vigor and spirit of his youth is reflected in the energy of the writing, ³Jazz-band, jazz-band, / Play, plAY, PLAY! / Tomorrow....who knows? / Dance today!² The repetition of the words, and the increasing emphasis on the word ³play² bring out the excitement to the reader. More evidence of Hughes¹s youth comes from the very focus of the poem: the interracial couples. The entire poem can be summed up as ³...a single-glance tableau of interracial flirtation ...
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guy, White Man! / You got everything!² Its intensity makes the reader frantic just from reading it. The line about Louis Armstrong refers to the great jazz trumpet player, the first black man to be recognized as a successful jazz artist by a white audience. Only now, ten years later, we see that it is the whites who profit from his talent. Hughes is desperate not to forget the accomplishments of the 20¹s, and not to let those accomplishments get taken away by greedy white businessmen. Another attack on the white world comes in his piece ³Ballad of Roosevelt². Roosevelt is thought of as one of the country¹s greatest leaders, a wonderful humanitarian. But in this poem Hughes reminds us ...
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Langston Hughes. (2005, November 11). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/36315
"Langston Hughes." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 11 Nov. 2005. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/36315>
"Langston Hughes." Essayworld.com. November 11, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/36315.
"Langston Hughes." Essayworld.com. November 11, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Langston-Hughes/36315.
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