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Langston Hughes and Simple Poetry
Indeed Langston has succeeded in making his poems comprehensible to majority of the audience as evidenced in his poetic work. To start with, he rarely incorporates complex symbolism while building upon a theme. For instance, in still Here, he associates the obvious by stating “snow has friz me, sun has baked me” while in another instance in Theme for English B he dismisses racism in a straight forward manner by stating “I guess being colored doesn’t make me NOT like the same things other folks like who are other races ” (Langston). In another incident a mother advices her son in Mother to Son “Well, son I’ll tell you: Life for me aint been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters…” (Langston). He gives simple and daily examples in his poems while making comparisons thereby making his literary work appealing to common people unlikely to harbor an interest in interpreting complex symbolism.
Another notable aspect in Langston poems are the simple headings given to poems. For instance, Still Here, Theme for English B, Madam and the Rent Man, The Ballad of the Landlord, Song for a Dark Girl and Let America be America Again. The titles portray the content at first glance thus; the reader has a preempted idea of the themes. This by no means reduces the intensity of the message as suggested by some but rather makes the theme conspicuous to many. This is imperative given one role of poetic literature is to communicate while perpetuating certain understandings and notions. The more comprehensible the message in addition to appealing to a larger audience, the more the successful this role is accomplished. A good example is in the poem Let America be America Again where he states, “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamt, Let it be the great strong land of love where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme, That any man be crushed by one above” (Langston). The theme is obviously political where Langston seeks to persuade Americans whether in government or general population to remember and reinstate convectional values of justice and good leadership.
The themes in his poems are easily spotted resulting to focused and energized communication of desired messages. This is facilitated by use of common every day language especially inclined towards informal speech. A demonstration of this in Still Here makes the poem relatable to an audience unlikely to be experts in English literature, he states “Stop laughin’, stop lovin’, stop livin’, But I Don’t care! I’m still Here” in The Ballad of the Landlord he writes “Ten Bucks you say I owe you? Ten Bucks you say is due? Well, that’s Ten Bucks more n I’l pay you till you fis this house up new” (Langston). The goal in his poetry is to communicate first a direct message before displaying literary prowess. This makes Langston a poetic representative of the contemporary society additionally exhibited in Let America be America Again, “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars, I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek,” (Langston). These lines are simple but the themes embodied within are powerful yet comprehensible to majority if not all of the audience. Precisely stated, Langston use of simple phrases coupled with common day informal language is effective in delivering theme as well as communicating desired messages in an energized manner.
Work cited:
Langston Hughes, Poetry. Poet Organization. 17th November 2011. Web
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