African American Poetry
The Harlem Renaissance reformed the scenic events of black literary devices through poetry. This was during the emergence of the black African writers, where the general way of the art life in Harlem was shaped by the poetic elements of the emergent writers, like Langston Hughes. Having been brought up in the Negro background, it was easy for the young poet laureate to relate the experiences with the perceived norms of life in order to depict the best tool to attack social injustices, like racism. In fact, most of the early works of Langston Hughes were born out of conflict with the ideology of racism. Born on the 1st of February, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes had to experience the wrath of discriminatory lifestyles advanced to the minority, where getting a well-paid job and access to land was abominable. His father left for Mexico shortly after his birth, while his conviction that African Americans were treated unfairly gave rise to literary thinking that culminated in the articulation of poems that addressed the vice in order to enlighten the society about need for change for equal relations. This also resulted into shaping up of his career in poetry. In consideration, Hughes was subdued to the patronage of his grandmother, who was a forceful inspiration to the appreciation of the race to which he belonged, bearing in mind that the grandmother was a member of the revolutionary movement that advocated for abolition of the slave trade. This made him learn the sentiments of coping with life against all odds to become proud of the race, which he belonged to.
A close analysis of the poetic elements, depicted by Hughes, through examination of the series of poems, like the dream, the dream variations, the negro speaks of rivers, the sun, I too, , when she wears red, and the weary blues, could lead to the determination of the relationships between the background of the poet and the influences that resulted into the artistic thinking, which is the key to interpretations` understanding therein. This is also fundamental in giving the basic interconnections to the way of life during the times of Hughes and the social way of life with a consequent influence that the poems had on shaping the understanding of discriminatory influences that provided an attack to the vices and injustices subjected to the minority, forming the platform for change. Consequently, this paper examines the magnificent stride that the poems made in shaping the Hughes` career during the times of “The Harlem Renascence” .
Firstly, dreams and the dream variation is written under one theme, whose implications sought to bring a closer understanding of life without a dream. Dreams, according to Hughes, is like the wings of a bird, where life without a dream is like the metaphor of a bird without wings. Moreover, just like the inability of a bird to fly without wings, life without dreams is one without a vision. This is elucidated in the metaphorical line of the poem, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly, where the essentiality of life without a dream is meaningless in terms of purpose. Consequently, Hughes elucidates the unproductiveness of a snowcapped field as being metaphorical to life without dreams. This is clearly articulated in the poem “dreams” where he states that “life is a barren field, frozen with snow.” Here he clearly compares the bareness of a field covered with snow to a life without dreams. This basically shows that the literary device, applied in this poem, is the use of metaphors to compare the usefulness of life with commonly known objects in order to synthesize the meaning of the poems and help the reader to be proactive in instilling the sense of hope in the injustice systems that were evidently discriminatory.
The poem is different from “the dream variation” in that the latter uses the application of similes and questions instead of metaphors, although they are bonded in terms of relationship between the ideology of dreams and life. In this context, the poet elucidates the validity of dreaming and the consequent influence of fading up of life without dreams. For instance, “does it dry up like the raisin in the sun?” This is a rhetoric question that seeks to address the fate of the dream when it fades away in life. Just like the raisin in the sun dries up, life without close associations with the dreams would dry up. This influences the description of the future fate of aspiration for change that might occur when human beings do not correlate well with their dreams. Moreover, he associates the commitment to dreams and the general performance through recollection of the fate of dreams with the consequent lack of commitment to the dreams. For instance, “fester like a sore and then run?” where he seeks to ask the fate of the dream if it is without its close associates. In real sense, the poet closely associates the life of dreams with its general commitment that depicts the afterlife and the absence of hope without such associations.
Even though the two poems show the associations of life without dreams, they are different in terms of approach; the “Dream” uses the application of metaphors, and the “Dream Variation” is an examination of life without dreams, presented in terms of similes and questions, which show the emptiness of life without hope for the future. The interpretation of this in the context is the use of the word “dream.” This is also in close association with the background of the life in Harlem, where discrimination was the tool for depiction of societal injustices. The poems give a preamble into the hope for life of the oppressed to express the stature of hope that, in time to come, something different might happen to change the situation for better.
Another common practice that associates the biography of the times of the Harlem Renascence with the literary work of Hughes is through depiction of “the sun” that is metaphorical to the red yolk of a rotten egg. This is in contrast with the consideration of the sun as bearing the light of the world, where Hughes tries to depict the ugly scenario of life. This is also in contrast with the beauty covered by the colors of the sun, where the pleasant moments, presented by the sunset, are compared to the “putrid odor of colors” that signifies the anguish in life. This is important to the formation of the anguish that is profound when one has no formal direction in life. For instance, the discriminatory act does not give a good correlation between the evident colors of the sunset and the reality that the discriminated feel. In them the beautiful colors can be transformed into a bad perspective of view due to the tribulations that they undergo in terms of discrimination. The poem goes further to describe the ugly life of a Jewish tailor, who is comparable to the African-Americans, who have to survive the wrath of watching the beauty of nature with anguish. The bad life of the Jewish people is a clear indication that the life of those, who are discriminated against, is difficult. This poem is closely interrelated with the poem the “dream” in that as the sun sets, the colors fade away to give rise to a new beginning. A beginning of the dark kind of life is metaphorical to the dark skin that the minority uphold. This is a message of hope to the Jewish sailor, who should not deliberate on the consequences of life but live in hope of a better future.
The other sentimental depiction of the message of hope through expression of bravery is the analysis of the poem “I, too.” This poem gives an awakening call for the whites to shun the practice of racial discrimination through seclusion of the blacks during meals. In the synthesis of this poem, Hughes gives his plea to the consideration of the blacks as an archaic minority and questions the legality of such practices. Moreover, he argues that it is absurd if he sings the national anthem that the whites sing, then it is shameful to be put in the kitchen, while the whites fill themselves with the delicacies at high tables in the dinning rooms. He also suggests that the element of seclusion to the kitchen does not deter him from eating well even if the situation is unpleasant, where the act itself is funny. This is because all he lacks in the seclusion rooms is that fundamental company and comfort. This shows that the work of Hughes in this poem resonates around the ideology of hope for tomorrow, where he engages bravery in depiction of: “tomorrow, I’ll sit at the table when the company comes.”
This is a form of reflection into the future where he sees a change of the life into a seclusion that puts emphasis on other forms of company. Moreover, “Nobody’ll dare say to me, eat in the kitchen” is a brave message of hope, meaning that the form of a secluded life would come to an end to give rise to better dinning conditions that are inclusive of some sort of company. Here he shows that the consideration of black people as slaves through seclusion could be solvable through rebellion. He articulates this through consideration of an experiment that would shame the devil through formation of a common dinning table between the blacks and the whites that can result into the appreciation of the dark skin that exemplifies shame to the exclusionists. This implies that if there is a common table, the exclusionists would learn to appreciate the dark skin, which would be the source of shame to the practice. Moreover, this would result into a platform of equity, which the exclusionists are afraid of. He however shows that the tribulations are not there to last, giving a message of hope for the better. This is also in line with the ideologies behind “the dream” where hope for the future is rooted to the general believes that there are no permanent situations.
On the other hand, the “Negro speaks of rivers” is the literary work that sums up civilization in the context of all the rivers mentioned. Hughes sees the flowing river as the flow of blood in his veins and just like the flow is a routine that would also happen to the veins of his blood. His use of repetition is fundamental in catching the eye of the reader through the paces of the realities in life. For instance, “My soul has grown deep with the rivers” is a form of imprinting the reader’s mind to the common knowledge about the world. Moreover, just like the river flows to vast distances, Hughes seems to have had the chance to travel and see the world; in this contexts there is not a single phenomenon that could be new to him. He sums up this poem with the depiction of examples of rivers, like the Euphrates, which were the basic foundation of civilization. This also shows that his ideologies are a form of hope in civilization, just as the great rivers were the source of civilization; this would happen to the minority, who one day would be transformed and considered as civilized. This poem is closely linked to the poem “sun” in that as much as the river and water elements are taken into consideration, Hughes never depicts a bright day as the river is flowing. This is evident in the case of the sun, whose beauty is rendered useless by the situational consideration of the condition of life, where as much as there is beauty, it is bended to the few, who consider themselves as being the minority. Moreover, the consideration of the oldest rivers in the history of the world gives the old view that has culminated to survival tactics through provision of civilization. Moreover, this also elucidates the message of hope in the sense that just as the rivers exist for a long time, the economic benefits of these rivers is profound to common people.
The ironical part of the discriminatory act is present in the synthesis of the poem “when she wears red”. In this poem, Hughes depicts the nature of the black beauty when he dated a seventeen year old black woman. This challenged him to sensitize the whites in terms of formation of interrelationships since as much as the whites upheld beauty, this was not a factor of exclusion of the blacks since they were equally beautiful. This also gave the challenge to the exclusionists that even if one was black, the skin was just like the cloth, where the mortal part was the most important thing, which was consequently similar regardless of the skin color. This closely relates to the sentiments made in “I, too” where the hope lies in tomorrow’s looks, meaning that when the black woman wears the red clothing, she would resemble the white woman. This is ironical in that if the color of the skin is compatible to the casual wear then the skin color is the line of separation. This is not only an attack on the injustices directed towards the minority but also a form of elevation of the plight of the minority to erase the line of separation and lay a platform for equity, which forms the cacophony of the Hughes` works.
There is also a close association between the synopsis of the poem “The weary blues” and the “Po Boy Blues”, which forms part of the literary works of Langston Hughes. This is from the depiction of the ideologies of both poems from a lyrical song based on the folk tales. The ideology of coining music into poem was fundamental in building familiarity to the reader through generation of interrelations of familiar songs with the social way of life. In “The Po Boy Blues”, Hughes used repetition to depict the tradition of “The Blues” that was fundamental in the culture appreciation therein. For instance, he uses the stance “when I was home de, sunshine seemed like gold” repetitively to depict the nature of the culture of the blues tradition with close association wit the most prevalent elements of the society. The reader is constrained to the 12- bar blues, where in actual context, the poet uses the slang ‘de’ that is a cultural complexion of the wording systems of the Blues community. This is in close relationship with “The weary blues” where the poet synthesizes the real meaning of the traditions of the blues. This is through the conversion of the poem into a form of a song, outburst with rhyme at the end of each stanza. For instance, “The singer stopped playing and went to bed, while the weary blues echoed through his head, he slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.” Here the words ‘bed’, ‘head’ and ‘dead’, found at the end of each line, are in the form of a rhythmic song, which depicts the culture of the “Blues traditions”. These two artistic poems are not only helpful in understanding the culture and traditions of the community, but they are also a wakening up call to the appreciation of the culture that is fundamental in building a cohesive understanding of the nature of human beings with their diversity in culture. This also fundamental in giving rise to the need of consideration of all human races as being equal through judgmental evidence, based on the culture that is rich in every aspect. Moreover the use of repetitive words and rhyme creates the musical element of the poem, which provides the reader with the ability to recall the poem frames. It is fundamental in understanding the culture of the community that is the first step in appreciation of other cultures. This is an evident form of erasing the line of barrier between the majority and the minority through the diversity co-relation in the people’s culture.
In conclusion, the Hughes` poetry revelations present the impact of discrimination on the general being of human nature, where he acts as a champion for the vice eradication through enlightening the society on the existence of the vice. This is through the use of commonly seen and unseen elements, like the sun and the moon, and coinage of their appearance to suit his description in order to arouse the anguish of the situation of discrimination. Besides, he depicts the real life situations of the times of the Harlem Renascence, where a casual observer believes the ideologies therein since they are based on the real life experiences. The only hope, according to Hughes, lies in dreaming for the future, where a line of separation might be the source of binding human races and as a result might end the discrimination. The general formation of the poems was influential in sensitizing the communities through creation of a proactive nature that could result in appreciation of intercultural variations, which is critical in elimination of racial discrimination. This was through the use of lyrical poems that are comprehensive and associated with the culture. It is evident through the poetry analysis. On the whole, the Harlem renascence should have been the drive force for the literary works of Hughes, where it justifies the way of life in relation to the theme, surrounding the literary devices.
