Langston Hughes - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Overview

James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry

Jazz poetry

Jazz poetry is poetry that "demonstrates jazz-like rhythm or the feel of improvisation". During the 1920s, several poets began to eschew the conventions of rhythm and style; among these were Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and E. E. Cummings...

. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s. At the time, it was known as the "New Negro Movement", named after the 1925 anthology by Alain Locke...

. He famously wrote about the period that "Harlem was in vogue."
Both of Hughes' paternal and maternal great-grandmothers were African-American, his maternal great-grandfather was white and of Scottish descent.

Unanswered Questions

What is Langston's Best book to buy for a gift ?

Quite some time ago I acquired a book inscribed by Langston Hughes to someone named ' Curley '. It is clear from the nature of the inscription that th...

What was Langston Hughes religious beliefs

Why does Langston Hughes answer his main question with a list of questions and is he expressing political of societal values?

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Discussions

What are some of Langston Hughes' most important works?

Early life

Living in one his childhood homes

The Harlem Renaissance: Langston Hughes and Alain Locke

Why does langston hughes answer his main question with a list of questions and is he expressing political of societal values.

Why does Langston Hughes answer his main question with a list of questions and is expressing political of societal values?

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Quotations

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.

"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)

They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed — I, too, am America.

"I, Too, Sing America," in the magazine Survey Graphic (March 1925); reprinted in Selected Poems (1959)

The night is beautiful,So are the faces of my people.

"My People," in the magazine Poems in Crisis (October 1923); reprinted in The Weary Blues (1926)

I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)

I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," from The Weary Blues (1926)

The stars went out and so did the moon.The singer stopped playing and went to bedWhile the Weary Blues echoed through his head.He slept like a rock or a man that's dead.

"The Weary Blues," from The Weary Blues (1926)

Way Down South in Dixie(Break the heart of me)They hung my black young loverTo a cross roads tree.

"Song for a Dark Girl" (l. 1-4), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)

Love is a naked shadowOn a gnarled and naked tree.

Song for a Dark Girl (l. 11-12), from Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)

While over Alabama earthThese words are gently spoken:Serve — and hate will die unborn.Love — and chains are broken.

"Alabama Earth (at Booker Washington's grave)," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers (1941), ed. Arna Bontemps

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

"Dreams," from the anthology Golden Slippers: An Anthology of Negro Poetry for Young Readers, ed. Arna Bontemps (1941)

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