Being of mixed race, much of Langston Hughes' poetry deals with the struggles of living in America as a minority, or in his case as an African American. Some of his early poetry can be read as more optimistic regarding the plight of his race and the oppression they experienced than most African Americans would tend to think during the early 20th century, with a voice that seemed to be uniquely of his own background--not of the dominant white voice, but one that came out of an African American heritage. This optimistic voice can be heard in four of Hughes' poems, in which he deals with topics such as racial pride and the everyday lives of African Americans: "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "I, Too," "Mother to Son," and "Ballad of the Landlord."

One of Hughes' first poems, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" punctuates his unique voice as an African American through its free-verse form. This poem sets the stage for Hughes' optimist outlook on life, as he writes about the collective experience of his ancestors. The rivers Hughes speaks of in the poem range from those in the land of his ancestors in Africa, such as the Euphrates and the Congo, to rivers he himself has experience

Here we see the blues singer turning his despair into song instead of into murder. Plus, the reader/listener can get the feeling that the mood of the blues is often one step away form death-either murder or suicide-and that the presence of the blues form makes it possible for the anguished one to direct his sorrow inward into song and find happiness in the release.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi...

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

The blues have long been considered an integral part of Black American culture. As Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) points out, "I cite the beginning of the blues as one beginning of American Negroes. Or, let me say, the reaction and subsequent relation of the Negro's experience in this country in his English is one beginning of the Negro's conscious appearance of the American scene." It is fitting, then, that one of America's most revered poets chose the Blues to express himself in so many poems.

I bathed in Euphrates when dawns were young.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1640
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)