[Writer's Name]

[Supervisor's Name]

[Langston Hughes]

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Langston Hughes

Introduction

Langston Hughes could said to be the revolutionary poet that has focused on the sociological problem faced by the African American. He has used his poetry to indicate the crucial problem of the society. His poems are influencing and persuading. The poet has always used attractive wording and phrases to make it persuasive. Langston Hughes was still a high school student when he started writing poetry. He sent numerous compositions to The Crisis, an African American magazine. One of them, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," was published in 1921. Readers appreciated his work so much that the magazine started publishing more of his poems. Hughes went to Africa and France after living for some time in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He discovered his dream of Paris in France. This is the place of which every young poet dreamed of. He mingled the rhythms of jazz with the rhythm of words and sent his poems to New York. A magazine bought his three poems for USD 24.50. It was Hughes first earning as a writer.

He went back to Harlem when he became a popular figure in the Harlem Renaissance. The beginning of his fame was at the time when the popular white poet, Vachel Lindsay, read his poems in front of a large audience and praised them highly. Hughes won many literary prizes and art prizes for his work. One of the factors that influenced Hughes poems was Jules Laforgue, the French symbolist poet who had pioneered free verse in France. Jules translated Whitman, and wrote ironical, sentimental complaints in the clown's image. Perhaps Hughes saw himself as dreamy, star-crossed Pierrot, who turns his back on “Simple John.,” his house, his wife, and a life of being merely good (Rampersad, p.137).

The black American culture, to which he belonged, was revealed in his poems. His work reflected his unwavering admiration for blacks, especially the poor. He was principally innovative in mixing the rhythms of jazz, blues and black speech, with traditional forms of poetry. In 1926, his publication came out by the name of, “The Weary Blues”, followed by Fine Clothes to the Jew in 1927, which was opposed by the black press for its prominence on the blues culture. A major essay, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain," showed his determination to make black culture the foundation of his art. In 1926 he enrolled at black Lincoln University, and graduated in 1929. He wrote his first novel, not without laughter, in 1930, with the support of a wealthy and volatile patron, Mrs. Charlotte Osgood Mason, also known as "Godmother".

Reflection of Hughes' Thoughts in his Poetry

The brief description entailed above proves the fact that Hughes work was significantly influenced by the black American culture. His major piece of work is about the racial discrimination and segregation. Coming forward is a detailed analysis of his work.

The Negro Speaks of River is poem and the idea for the poem came to him when ...