Langston Hughes1

A detailed Summary of Langston Hughes1


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 Hughesıs 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 1920ıs was a place of immense growth and richness in African-American culture and art. For Hughes, this was the perfect opportunity to establish his poems. His early work reflects the happy times of the era. However, as time progressed he became increasingly bitter and upset over race relations. Except for a few examples, all his poems from this later period spoke about social injustice in America. The somber tone of his writing often reflected his mood. Race relations was the shadow of his career, following him from his first poem to his last. The tone and subject matter of Hu


More evidence of Hughesıs 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 against a background of heady jazz.² (Emanuel 120) This festive relationship between the two sexes can rarely be seen in any of Hughesıs later poems. At this point in his life, Hughes was enjoying the culture and excitement of the Harlem renaissance. It was an amazing period in New York for African Americans, the first real large scale expression of their culture. Jazz was a flourishing art form that Hughes often liked to write about. It is easy to see why most of his poems of this period (1921-1930) would be festive and cheerful.



Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1397
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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