Selected Poems of Langston Hughes

ISBN: 067972818X
Publisher: Vintage (1990)
 297 p.

Reading Level: Adult (crossover).

Summary:

This collection of poetry contains selections from earlier volumes, which are The Weary Blues, Fine Clothes to the Jew, Shakespeare in Harlem, Fields of Wonder, One-Way Ticket, and Montage of a Dream Deferred. Hughes also added a number of new poems, for his time, some of which had never been seen before. Also added were poems from his own private collection. His themes range from dreams, the reality of being an African-American, and the interpersonal relationships that drive us all. This selection is set up chronologically, and readers will be able to gain insight into Hughes’s life, loves, and political beliefs. The words in these poems evoke such vivid images that, as a reader from any walk of life, you feel that you are standing alongside the poet and can clearly feel how he viewed life, what experiences he saw, heard, and partook of, and the hopes he felt for a better tomorrow.

Critical Evaluation:

This collection of poems, chosen by the author himself, provides a montage of life for African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. His poems contain the themes of racial prejudice, love, life, lamentation, and freedom. Sadly, he was heavily criticized at the time for showing everyday African-American life when his critics, many fellow African-Americans who were affluent, felt he should be showcasing his people in the best light possible. Hughes countered with how he saw more truth in the lives of everyday people, and he felt that

The masses of our people had as much in their lives to put into books, as did those more fortunate ones who had been born with some means and the ability to work up to a master's degree at a Northern college . . . I knew only the people I had grown up with, and they weren't people whose shoes were always shined, who had been to Harvard, or who had heard of Bach. But they seemed to me good people, too. (Retrieved from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langston-hughes)

His most well-known series of poems, A Dream Deferred, presents an arc showing how in Harlem African-Americans have to live day by day, dollar by dollar, and can never plan ahead or dream for themselves as their white counterparts can. The endless cycle of racism and poverty disintegrates a person’s goals and hopes for life. Goals cannot be fulfilled, and the cycle of poverty and anger will continue, if it is not broken.

Another poem, “I, Too,” deals with a sense of self and pride that cannot be taken away by the white hierarchy:

I, too, sing America

I am the darker brother

They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well
And grow strong,

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen, “
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America. (p. 275).

The theme of loving oneself and finding worth in one’s life is also a prevalent theme in Hughes’s poems. His realistic depiction of life around him makes his work as poignant today as during the era when they were written.

Reader’s Annotation:

“Montage of a Dream Deferred. Buddy, have you heard?” (p. 254)

Poems of hope, love, life, racism, and hardship selected by the author himself.

Author Biography:

Langston Hughes was born in Missouri in 1902. He studied for a year at Columbia University and won the first prize for poetry of the magazine, Opportunity. The winning poem was The Weary Blues, which is also the title of his first book of poems, which was published in 1926. Because of these honors, he won a scholarship for Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rosenwald Fellowship, and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Grant. In 1930, his first novel, Not Without Laughter, received the Harmon Gold Medal for Literature.

Hughes wrote that his primary influences were Carl Sandburg, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Walt Whitman. He is known for “insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties . . . His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.” (Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83). His novels, short stories, plays, and poetry contained an ever-present theme of the experience and reality of life for African-Americans. Through reading his works, readers will be able to reflect on this time in history and culture, no matter where they are from.

Genre: Poetry

Curriculum Ties:

This would make a fantastic addition to a high school English class’s section on poetry,
especially as a premiere example of the art form of “jazz poetry” during the Harlem Renaissance.

Booktalking Ideas:

-In the poems that deal with overt racism, how has the world changed
to make a better place for all of its people? How has the world stayed the same?

-Read some of the poems that showcase the era Hughes wrote about
and how they reflect the human condition.
-How jazz and blues had an impact on Hughes’s writings.

Read-Alikes:

-Selected Poems (P.S.) by Gwendolyn Brooks.

-The Complete Collected Poems by Maya Angelou.

-Dutchman and The Slave: Two Plays by LeRoi Jones.

-The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics) by Walt Whitman.

-Jimmy’s Blues by James Baldwin.

Challenge Issue:

Although the themes and language could be considered “too adult” for teens, I would argue that they showcase an era that is not to be forgotten. Using art to “prove their humanity and demand for equality” (Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance) is one of the ways the Harlem Renaissance led not only to more opportunities for African-American authors, but it also paved the way for the world to read their literature.

Reason to include in blog:

I wanted to include a book of poetry, and although Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost were who first sprung to mind, I had been meaning to read a more contemporary author, and I thought of Langston Hughes. His poems are still very topical, and one can only hope that racism, bigotry, and hatred will someday be a thing of the past.

 

References:

Harlem Renaissance. (2011). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance

Hughes, L. (1990) Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York: Vintage.

Poetry Foundation. (2011). Langston Hughes. Retrieved from

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/langston-hughes

Poets.org. (2011). Langston Hughes. Retrieved from

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83