Explication of Langston Hughes Poetry - Research Paper Example

Explication of Langston Hughes Poetry Langston Hughes emerged with the Harlem Renaissance and served as one of its more prominent members. As a gifted person, Hughes was able to contribute to poetry, novels, plays, music, social causes and the evolving movement for African American civil rights. Hughes’s poetry prominently reflects changing attitudes and increasing awareness in African American circles in the early parts of the twentieth century. On another note, Hughes’s poetry can also be seen as being influenced by various life experiences he had as a youth and then as an adult. Racial discrimination figures as a major theme of Hughes’s poetry, much like other African American poets of the time. This paper will look into Langston Hughes’s poetry for explicating it. Hughes’s poetry will be explored largely in context of his own life experiences shaping the words and themes of his poetical works. Before delving into Hughes’s poetry, it would be pertinent to see his turbulent life as a child. Hughes’s parents divorced early in his life leading his single mother to move from place to place in order to find odd jobs to fend for herself and her son. During this period, Hughes moved through a large part of the United States on a regular basis as his mother shifted jobs. Later, Hughes settled down with his mother and stepfather in Cleveland, Ohio. The constant rattling that Hughes received early in his life left a deep impression on him as a child. In these formative years, Hughes was deeply impressed by the free verse style of Carl Sandburg [Ber01]. This would reflect in his poetry for years to come and a quick look at Hughes work reveals a break with the conformist rhyming verses used in poetry. Another major impact of these early rattled years on Hughes later works is a constant identity crisis that is visible in most poetical works by Hughes [Joy04]. One of the earliest and more prominent works by Hughes titled Cross signals his identity crisis. It has to be realized that Hughes was born of an African America mother and a white father which led him to a typical mulatto identity crisis. This crisis was exacerbated by the fact that Hughes’s mother remained poor throughout her life while his father was a prominent Mexican rancher. The onset of such great racial and social divide meant that Hughes saw himself neither as black nor as white. Instead, Hughes contemplated of his own identity and place in society. In Cross, Hughes divorces himself from curses for his “white old man” and his “black old mother” [Ram02]. This signals that Hughes was essentially a troubled child since he had unstable relationships with his parents that he wished to settle through his poetry now. Ending the poem, Hughes brings forth his personal crisis by stating[Ram02]: My old man died in a fine big house, My ma died in a shack, I wonder where I’m gonna die, Being neither white nor black. This work clearly defines Hughes’s personal identity – Hughes did not belong to any racial groups, social class or other such faction but was an individual personality in himself. As Hughes’s life went on, the identity crisis from his earlier years started to transform into a strong individual personality. Over time Hughes’s poetry reflected his growing consciousness of his African American heritage and the need to go back to his African roots in order to rediscover himself [Gat07]. In his early struggles to reclaim his identity, Hughes travelled to Africa in order to salvage something from his past [Ram02]. These experiences turned Hughes from a person looking for identity to someone proud of his own self. One of Hughes’s later works titled Color epitomizes his growing self consciousness as he states[Hug01]: Wear it Like a banner For the proud – Not like a shroud. Wear it Like a song Soaring high – Not moan or cry. The poem presented above reveals a number of different things about Hughes’s poetry. For one thing, Hughes relies on Sandburg’s distinctive non rhyming free verse style in his poetry for propagation of ideas[Ost02]. In addition, Hughes forsakes any doubts about his color through this poem. In assuming such an identity, Hughes can be seen as creating his personal creed from the very color of his skin. Hughes can be seen as realizing that society will not provide him with an identity unless he fashions his own identity and then bolsters it by feeling proud about his fashioned identity. In using the words “For the proud”, Hughes makes it abundantly clear that respect in society is only for those who are aware and confident of their identity. Hughes train of thought can be linked to the Harlem Renaissance’s evolving concept of tracing back one’s roots to Africa. As the Harlem movement developed, it led the African Americans to develop a hybrid culture that had roots in contemporary America and historical African cultural traditions. The development of jazz for example is a major watershed for the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was part of such developments and can be seen as one of the earliest jazz contributors. These teeming developments in the Harlem Renaissance can be seen as reflecting in Hughes poetical works such as in Color. Moreover, Hughes works and Harlem’s several other enterprises can be seen as gaining intellectual strength based on intellectual successes such as jazz [Wes03]. Color can be contrasted to earlier works by Hughes where he seems searching for an identity such as his poem titled Crossing that signals the hopelessness of Harlem’s individuals[Hug011]: Cause it was a lonely day, folks, When I walked all by myself, And my friends were right there with But was just as if they’d left. Crossing makes it clear that Hughes sees himself as a lonely person which is signaled by his walking all alone even though he had friends around him. Again this poem reveals a certain state of hopelessness that can be attributed to a search for personal identity and for establishing a sense of belonging. In a similar manner, Hughes tries to question the African American’s association to the state with works such as I, too, Sing America. Here Hughes portrays the black man to be as loyal to the state as any other person even though he is racially discriminated. The poem I, too, Sing America reveals Hughes new identity as the “darker brother” who is sent to “eat in the kitchen”[Hug94]. The term “darker brother” reveals that Hughes has accepted himself as an African American by this point in time in his life. Moreover, being sent to “eat in the kitchen” signifies the age old treatment of slaves who could not eat with their white masters on plantations. In the sense of the poem Hughes points to racial discrimination around the United States that disallowed black people from eating in the same places as white people [Hug012]. The development of this poem makes it all the more interesting – Hughes declares that the African American has no issues in being forced to “eat in the kitchen”. Instead, the African American “laughs” and “eats well” in order to “grow strong” so that tomorrow the African American will “be at the table” and nobody will be able to tell him to leave the table. In addition, Hughes believes strongly that [Hug94]: Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed – I, too, am America. The shift in Hughes’s attitude is remarkable – he realizes that sulking and running away from himself is not the answer. Instead, Hughes can be seen as taking at the situation head on by agreeing to what he is and feeling proud about it. The recognition of personal merits and the satisfaction derived from it can be signified by Hughes using the word “beautiful” to describe himself. This work by Hughes has been indicated to have had strong historical implications for the Civil Rights Movement later by inspiring a number of leaders for the ensuing political struggle [Rag08]. This turn of personality on the part of Hughes and his poetry can be attributed to changing attitudes in Harlem at this point in time. It was felt in Harlem’s intellectual circles that taking up a hybrid African American culture to build a new social identity would be the best way out for the African American people. The previous agitated attitudes of African American people began to disappear. In Hughes’s case, this can be contrasted with his early works that sought to “curse” others in order to feel satisfied. Now instead of cursing, Hughes and the African American people were cognizant of the fact that they too were America[Rob69]. Overall, Hughes poetical works can be seen as a reflection of Hughes personality under development. The early works of Hughes signify an immature individual stuck between various dissections in society. In contrast, Hughes later poetical works signify a growing realization of self that is rooted in African historical roots and contemporary American society. Moreover, this period sees more confident works from Hughes although the non rhyming free verse style continues to dominate Hughes works. Works Cited Ber01: , (Bernard 24), Joy04: , (Joyce 136), Ram02: , (Rampersad 191), Ram02: , (Rampersad 191), Gat07: , (Gates and Jarett 263), Ram02: , (Rampersad 71), Hug01: , (Hughes 171), Ost02: , (Ostrom 153), Wes03: , (West 162), Hug011: , (Hughes, The Poems 1941-1950 (Volume 2) 49), Hug94: , (Rampersad, The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes 46), Hug012: , (Hughes, Fight for Freedom and Other Writings on Civil Rights 9), Rag08: , (Ragar 134), Rob69: , (Robinson 244), Read More