ipl-logo

Langston Hughes '' Those Weary Blues'

1047 Words5 Pages

INTRODUCTION “James Mercer Langston Hughes was the most versatile, popular and influential African-American writer of the twentieth century.” Langston Hughes was born 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. At a young age his parents separated, he had a rocky road ahead of him. During his childhood he moved back and forth to his grandmother in Kansas and with his mom twice in Illinois and Ohio. Langston Hughes career began at age thirteen in his grammar school in Lincoln, Illinois, he was voted class poet. Hughes had never written poetry before, this inspired him to write some. As a gift to the class he wrote over a dozen poems to thank his fellow classmates and staff. Hughes did not stop there, he moved once more. With a little bit of experience …show more content…

So much in fact that it helped mold his writing style. He incorporates the blues and jazz-like rhythms in his poetry, this was a new and exciting idea. An example can be found in his poem “The Weary Blues. The poem depicts a “Negro” swaying along “to the tune o’ those Weary Blues.” The story continues with the image of a “poor piano moan with melody.” Within this poem it is evident that the story has traces of “black themes” and “jazz rhythms.” In Harlem this is the reality, Hughes has brought this in his writing and has shown us a piece of Harlem. The environment he has been exposed to has had an effect on how he has written his …show more content…

As stated earlier one of his main themes is “his concern with race, mainly in an urban setting . . .” A good example is Hughes poem “Mother to Son” the poem follows the story of a older African woman, she is recounting the days she has faced and the hardships she has gone through. In the story life is compared to stairs. At the top is a easier life; The lady has a son and she encourages him to not turn back and keep going. Langston Hughes has not had an easy life whatsoever. The reader can see a little bit of him in the mother character. She is hardworking and will not give up, no matter how hard the journey is. Harlem is a tough place. It can be seen where he draws the inspiration from. Hughes published a volume of verse entitled “Fine Clothes to the Jew.” “The poems in the new book dealt with aspects of everyday life in proletarian Harlem--fundamentalist religion, low-paying jobs, the cabaret, romance, gambling fights, prostitution, alcohol--and many of them were written in dialect cast in the form of urban folk blues the ultimate combination of aesthetic sin, according to Hughe’s detractors.” This quote shows just exactly what Harlem looked

Show More
Related

  • Let America Be America Again Essay

    827 Words  | 4 Pages

    Langston Hughes was a poet, play writer, fiction writer, and novelist who spent most of his early years with his grandmother. His grandmother spent her time with him telling him stories of the past. Resultantly, he was instinctually drawn to African American culture. He later wrote stories, biographies and poems about black lives in America. Langston is very well known for his views on black lies from the twenties all through the sixties and was an important figure in shaping contributions of the Harlem Renaissance.

    Read More

  • Harlem Renaissance Research Paper

    971 Words  | 4 Pages

    African Americans who moved to Harlem were astounded and inspired by the amount of people moving in to the city. Writer Langston Hughes once said, “Harlem was like a great magnet for the Negro intellectual…they began writing with a bold new voice about what it meant to be a black American,” (Brown). Hughes, the most famous poet of this time period, wrote to inspire the African Americans. His poems attracted many African Americans, but it also got the attention of publishers, and eventually all Americans, regardless of race began reading them too (“Harlem

    Read More

  • Jacob Lawrence: The Harlem Renaissance

    456 Words  | 2 Pages

    Langston Hughes was one the most well known names during the Harlem Renaissance. He was a writer whose pieces ranged from novels, to plays. He wrote short stories, children’s books, translations and anthologies as well. However, his most well known pieces were his poems. Langston's writing reflected the idea that black culture should be celebrated, because it is just as valuable as white culture.

    Read More

  • The Weary Blues Literary Devices

    578 Words  | 3 Pages

    They each have their own unique theme that revolves around an issue or conveys an idea. In the poem, “The Weary Blues”, both the person listening to the music and the musician are trying to express their feelings. In line 11, Langston Hughes talks about how the musician was playing by saying, “He made that poor piano moan with melody” (“Hughes”11). This tells us as the reader that the musician’s only way of expressing himself is by playing the piano in a way that allows his true feeling to be heard. In this case, both the musician and the person listening are expressing their pain and other emotions through the blues.

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes As A Poet

    799 Words  | 4 Pages

    Langston Hughes was known for being one of the most favored, if not the most favored, African-American poet and short story writers of the twentieth century. He was commemorated for being a people’s poet, “his life’s work was about bringing people together socially, politically, and artistically” (Shawn Alexander, 42). Hughes was influential for writing about the everyday struggles, racial injustices, and dreams of the African-American men and women during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s. This period in history was a time of vast changes and explorations for African-Americans.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Langston Hughes The Weary Blue

    903 Words  | 4 Pages

    When the poet heard an Afro-American play a tune in a piano, he was able to recognize the tune suddenly as Blues. But the poet commented that the Black played it like a ‘musical fool’, and further writes his poem as weary Blues. This poem proves that Hughes already had a strong knowledge on Blues music even from his childhood in Kansas where he had been taken to the black churches on Sundays by his auntie Reed (Jack Rummel 18). His intention of setting English lyric into Blue’s music shows the poets true spirit of renaissance and his ironical representation of honoring the traditional Black music by using a recognized foreign

    Read More

  • When The Negro Was In Vogue From The Big Sea Analysis

    598 Words  | 3 Pages

    Summary In the book, When the Negro was in Vogue from The Big Sea by Langston Hughes, Hughes starts off by discussing the “White people” that have now begun to fill the Harlem streets. Years before coming to Harlem, they had their own separate club, The Cotton Club, where few Negros were allowed. Now that the whites have begun to fill the cabarets and bars that were at one point only filled by African Americans, the author goes on a rant.

    Read More

  • How Did Langston Hughes Influence Society

    1205 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are so many writers and people who do not write also that look up to him. He accepted the challenge of expressing the heart and soul of African Americans. Keenly aware of racism, Hughes visioned a nation where domestic problems could be realized. Hughes in his poetry, expressed his own reactions to incidents in his life and in the world at large. Langston Hughes left such a lasting impression on poetry , black culture, and the people in his life, that he changed the way they lived with the spirit and soul he put into his

    Read More

  • How Did The Blues Affect The Harlem Renaissance

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    Born on February 1, 1902 and raised in New York City very own Harlem, Hughes would prove to be one of the most significant writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1926 Hughes published one of his many symbolic poems Weary Blues. The Weary Blues is a poem that was able to fuse together poetry, jazz and blues which describes one of the distinctive characteristics of the “New Negro” of the Harlem Renaissance. The Weary Blues portrays the overcrowded conditions and employment difficulties blacks faced in Harlem. Those who suffered from ambiguity because of lack of monetary resources and basic luxuries:

    Read More

  • African Americans In The 1920s Essay

    512 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hughes helped to shape American literature and politics with his emotion-filled pieces. In the same fashion, Hughes advocated equality while chastising racism and injustice. Through his works, he was able to celebrate the culture and spirituality of African Americans. Ultimately, this had a very positive change in the lives of Americans by being able to show African Americans in a new light and

    Read More

  • How Does Langston Hughes Use Imagery In The Weary Blues

    494 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that rose in the 1920s, brought forth many literary works that celebrated African American identity and showcased black culture. Among the loud voices of this era was Langston Hughes, whose poetry embodied the struggles and resilience of the African American community. Langston Hughes' poetry is filled with vivid imagery, showing readers into the heart of the African American experience. Through his masterful use of imagery, Hughes captures the essence of emotions, settings, and characters, creating an experience that resonates with the reader. One example of a poem that showcases his great use of imagery is "The Weary Blues."

    Read More

  • A Dream In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

    636 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin there were characters whose dreams were stated, one of which were shattered by drugs and misfortune and others which would eventually come to be true. Harlem-life has been retold throughout many pieces of African-American literature, ranging from voices expressed in 1925 publication of “The New Negro” to James Baldwin’s fictional short story “Sonny’s Blues,” published in 1957. Echoing throughout different pieces are the words and visions of “a dream deferred,” challenging readers to place themselves into the harsh culture that African-Americans have to wake up to every morning. In “Sonny’s Blues,” a character offers this account of Harlem: “All that hatred down there… all that hatred and misery and love. It’s a wonder it

    Read More

  • How Did Langston Hughes Influence The American Dream

    922 Words  | 4 Pages

    The culture of most blacks was unwanted during this time. For this reason Hughes desired to make a change and illustrate such cultural identities in his poems. In doing this he caused a shift in ideas among all people. Although the change didn’t happen immediately it did eventually occur. With that said the African American people were given less of an opportunity at jobs, schooling, and most importantly culture.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Langston Hughes's The Weary Blues

    1552 Words  | 7 Pages

    Biography/Context: Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is widely considered as one of the most successful African-American poets of all time. He was also a columnist, playwright, novelist, and social activist for African-American rights. Consequently, Hughes wrote all sorts of literature about 20th century African-Americans living in Harlem--a major black residential within the Manhattan borough of New York City--and soon became an extremely influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance, which was the rebirth movement of African-American culture in the arts during the 1920s. Hughes also had great admiration for music, and was inspired by a variety of genres/musicians such as boogie, Bach, jazz, and blues. His special love for blues music caused

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes's Poetry

    285 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hughes 's affirmation and celebration of African American life was in terms of everyday black folks, their culture, artistic forms, genres, and personages. (QUOTE) Because a significant portion of Hughes 's poetry deals with American

    Read More

More about Langston Hughes '' Those Weary Blues'

Open Document