If there is one book I held onto that I bought in college (and that's probably what it'll come down to) it's this. I've been looking forward to November for two reasons, Thanksgiving of course, but also because I could see in the syllabus that it was this month that we would finally get to Langston Hughes.
His words are what I think of when I think of the Harlem Renaissance. And while I am far from anything resembling an expert, he most certainly is and he makes you feel like you're standing by his side as he takes in these perceptions and transposes them into words.
Whether there are many lines or few it matters not. He conveys feelings and emotions and annoyances and general observations perfectly through his words and effortlessly connects you to them. "Summer Night" "Mother to Son" "Song." These are compelling images that put what he's talking about in your ears and your nostrils and right in front of your face.
He sings through his words. Just as much musical lyric as poetic his poems pull from multiple influences to create something that is fresh even these many years later. The heartbreaking "Drama for Winter Night (Fifth Avenue)" and "Prayer for a Winter Night" exhibit the plight of the poor and the compassion that lives on in hopelessness.
Perfection.
I'm enjoying these if you didn't notice.
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4 comments:
Your blog was very compelling. It was light and enjoyable! i liked how you added other senses into Hughes "talking about in your ears and your nostrils and right in front of your face." I never looked at Hughes this way, Thank you for showing me this side of him. I'm happy that you are enjoying these poems so much.
I really enjoy Hughes as well. He is simple genius! I particulary like how he incorporates music into his poems. Not only does it give the poems a unique rhythym, but it allows me to relate to the poems even more than I originally would have.
I also thought of Langston Hughes when I signed up to take this course. I feel that he is the most widely recognized writer of the Harlem Renaissance. This is probably due to the fact that his writing is extremely representative of this time period. He covers a variety of topics that were relevant to African Americans. I really liked the way that you described his writing by saying that it is effortless. This is a fantastic word to describe Hughes’ writing. His words just seem to flow and fit together regardless of the length or style of his poems.
I enjoy Hughes as well. I can't say as though I look forward to all the reading that we have for class but I would much rather read this than what we have been reading. He is very enjoyable and lots of his poems are what we can relate to as well.
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