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Langston Hughes
Much of the work of the great American poet Langston Hughes deals with
racial separation and the sense of being different that followed him throughout
his life. One of his earliest published poems, The
Negro Speaks of Rivers, was written on a train when Hughes was
only seventeen years old. Hughes was travelling between Ohio (where his
mother and stepfather lived at the time) and his father’s home in
Mexico. The muddy Mississippi river, the movement of the train, and the
setting sun came together as inspiration for the young poet.
Throughout his formative years, Langston Hughes moved often and spent most of his time living in areas with very small African-American communities. In his poetry, prose, and plays, Hughes often explored themes of separation, segregation, otherness, and discrimination coupled with the ideas of community and sense of heritage. While much of his work addressed unpleasant themes, he often took a hopeful tone and the unique, timeless lyric quality of his work has secured his position as one of history’s greatest poets.
Links:
- Biographical
sketch
by Joseph J. Kozel at the Pennsylvania Center for the Book
- Wikipedia
article on Hughes
- Biography
on kansasheritage.org
- Artist’s
department at our Lemonade
Stand
