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Gabriella Mondelli

Professor Hall

English 2100

March 17th, 2011

Themes of Recognition in Langston Hughes’ Poetry

The work of Langston Hughes was highly influenced by the lives of the African

Americans around him during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, and also the history

that they all shared in Africa. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of revival for

traditional African culture and a push for racial equality across in the community of

Harlem, a mostly black neighborhood in New York City, New York (Celebrate). The time

was filled with musical invention and African traditions reborn. The new sounds of jazz

and the blues filled the air and African Americans celebrated the obstacles they had

surmounted and rallied to prepare for the new challenges to come (Celebrate).

Hughes was as much influenced by the movement as he influenced the Harlem

Renaissance itself. During this time of African American revival, Hughes flourished in the

arts and the music of Harlem became one of the major inspirations for his writing style

(Meyer). Langston Hughes’ poetry brings into a new light the struggles of Africans

throughout history and also during the time in which he lived. Hughes’ use of diction,

tone, symbols, rhythm, meter, speaker, setting and situation in his poems “Negro,” “I,

Too,” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” engage the reader in his words as he speaks on

behalf of all African Americans to remember the past and push for people of other races

to recognize the historical and present day struggles of African Americans as well.
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Langston Hughes’ choice of diction and tone are both important to how a reader

understands his poetry. His diction is often rather simple and the informal quality of his

writing is used to make his poetry more accessible to a wider audience. The tone of

Hughes’ work often reflects the attitude of the speakers he portrays. When the speaker

of a Hughes poem is a slave he feels subordinate and weakened by the harsh life he

leads. When Hughes writes from first person point-of-view, the reader can sense that

the speaker feels both strong and influential.

In his poem “Negro,” Hughes uses diction and tone to help the reader

sympathize with the plight of the black man throughout history. The first and sixth

stanza are the same “I am a Negro;/ Black as the night is black,/ Black like the depths of

my Africa” (Negro). The speaker’s diction is flat and factual, and the tone reflects defeat.

The speaker has abandoned his thoughts of freedom because even with the passing of

time nothing has changed. The poem talks about the many ways Africans have been

persecuted, beat down, and enslaved throughout history: from serving Caesar to

brushing the boots of George Washington. Hughes creates an image that the

characteristics of African life have always stayed the same, no matter which continent

they live on. The cruelty only evolved to fit the needs of their oppressors. The poem’s

diction and tone suggests that views on race have never changed, and possibly never

will.

But beneath the harsh exterior of the poem, the tone quietly speaks of the

narrator’s inner strength and pride. “Under my hand the pyramids arose,” the speaker

claims. Few people living today do not know of the great pyramids of Egypt. The
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narrator takes pride in this accomplishment. Despite the cruelties the African slaves

faced while building those pyramids, Hughes’ speaker takes pride in the work of his

people, and reminds others of those wondrous masterpieces that few structures rival,

even today.

In “I, Too,” the tone is much different: Hughes’ narrator speaks much more

vividly of the movement towards racial equality. The first seven lines are about racial

inequality during the times of African American servitude. “I am the darker bother.

/They send me to eat in the kitchen /When company comes” (I, Too, Lines 2-4). The

tone of lines two through four is morose. Hughes refers to the times of extreme racial

segregation, when blacks were subordinate to whites and were not allowed the

privilege of eating with proper “company.” The speaker knows his own value but must

stifle that inner confidence to uphold the status quo; then was not the time for radical

social change. But as the poem moves on, time passes and the speaker grows stronger;

“But I laugh/ And eat well, /And grow strong” (I, Too, Lines 5-7). The tone changes to

suit the more powerful, assertive speaker and the reader can feel his strength building.

Through the rest of the poem Hughes speaker can anticipate the passing of time and can

sense the freedom awaiting African Americans. “They’ll see how beautiful I am/ And be

ashamed,” claims the speaker near the end of the poem. One day, the speaker and his

oppressors will be socially equal, and each will recognize the African American race for

their true value and be ashamed of the inequity of the past they share. Hughes wants

his readers to understand that regardless of the behavior of any individual, slavery is a

past that all Americans, black or white, must recognize as their own.
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Diction is most the prevalent when Hughes writes of the lessons taught to his

speaker by the mighty rivers of North America and Africa. It is said that humans were

born out of Africa, and the speaker commemorates the dawn of human life and it’s first

interactions with the water in Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Hughes

starts the poem this far back into the history, because that is where everyone’s ancestry

starts, not just the history of African Americans. The speaker recalls our ancestors who

“bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young” (The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Line 5).

Dawn is representative of birth and the young, naïve human race of which Hughes’

narrator speaks. “I built my hut by the Congo;” a more advanced human race learns to

protect itself and its family from the dangers of bad weather and predators, all under

the watchful eye of the mighty Congo River (Line 6). “I heard the singing of the

Mississippi… and I’ve seen it’s muddy/ Bosom turn all golden in the sunset” (Lines 8-10).

The narrator reflects on his most recent past. A smart and thoughtful human race that

sings of both joy and sorrow. The speaker watches the golden light of sunset resting on

the bed of the Mississippi River, a symbol for the end of history. The speaker’s account

of the human record has made its way to his own present time.

Hughes’ poetry often reflects on the past, and he uses symbols to create a sense

of time and change for the reader. In his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” They

speaker reflects on the rivers that have dictated the written history of Africans and

other blacks, such as the Nile or the Mississippi. For this speaker, rivers represent the

passing of time. There is not an end to African American history, it will always flow

forward and change, just like the river. “My soul has grown deep like the rivers,” the
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speaker says (The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Lines 4 and 13). Just like life, the river is

continuously moving onward and as it runs its course it carves deeper into the earth,

just how experiences leave imprints the soul. Hughes’ calls upon his readers to look back

on their own history and be grateful for what they have learned from it. Symbols like

this often create a new level of depth for the reader and invite them to dig deeper into

the poem and reveal what the poem says about the writer or even the reader

themselves.

Due to Hughes’ background with the Harlem Renaissance, a little of his own

personality is written into every poem. Hughes lived in Harlem during the time of African

American cultural revival, and he himself influenced many of the trends that mark that

1920’s cultural rebirth. Many of the poems written by Hughes’ have a jazz or blues like

rhythm when read aloud. The fifth, sixth and seventh lines of “I, Too” hold the best

representation of how Hughes’ rhythm and meter add to the meaning of the poem. “But

I laugh./ And eat well,/ And grow strong” (I, Too, Lines 5-7). The third word of each of

these lines is stressed, which creates a rhythm that guides the reader through the

speaker’s growth. Furthermore, each successive line is slightly longer than the one

preceding it. This also builds on that feeling of growth and momentum that Hughes uses

to define his speaker. This feeling of momentum is found in many of Hughes’ poems as

he calls his readers to recognize the continuing trend toward African American

independence and equality.

The speaker Hughes chooses for each of his poems always enhances the

meaning of the poem. Knowing a speaker’s cultural and historical background adds
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another layer of depth to the reading that the author does not have to write explicitly,

because the audience can add their own knowledge of that time to the meaning of the

poem. In other words, put themselves in the reader’s shoes. Many of his poems take

place in the past or in distant lands and his choice of speaker helps the reader

sympathize with the less than subtle meanings behind his racially charged poems.

Hughes’ poem “Negro” is can be spoken by anyone with darker skin. The poem speaks

of the hardships faced by the African race and its descendants. “I am a Negro,” starts

the first and sixth stanzas while all the stanzas in between state the different roles

African Americans have played throughout history: “I’ve been a salve…/ I’ve been a

worker…/ I’ve been a singer…/ I’ve been a victim” (Negro, Lines 4, 7, 10, and 14). The

speaker of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is also of African American descent. “I’ve

known rivers,” the speaker states (The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Lines 1 and 11). Unlike

the speaker of “Negro”, this speaker is looking back on the past with reverence and a

respect for his or her race because of where they are in a historical context. The speaker

empathizes with their ancestors; “I bathed in the Euphrates…/ I built my hut near the

Congo…/ I looked upon the Nile…/ I heard the singing of the Mississippi” (The Negro

Speaks of Rivers, Lines 5-8). Each of these locations was important to the readers past,

and in turn his or her present. Hughes call upon all readers to recognize the hardships

and challenges of the shared past of all African Americans.

The locations chosen by Hughes for the setting and situation of each of his

poems are designate a specific point in African American history that the audience

should reflect upon during their readings of his poetry. In Hughes’ “Negro,” the setting
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often changes but the situation remains the same throughout each stanza. Hughes

starts and ends the poem with “I am a Negro:/ Black as the night is black,/ Black like the

depths of my Africa” (Negro, Lines 1-3 and 17-19). This emphasizes that nothing has

changed over the course of time, nor does it matter where the speaker is

geographically, the color of their skin will always dictate how people view and treat him

or her. “Under my hand the pyramids arose./ I made mortar for the Woolworth

Building” (Negro, Lines 8-9). Here Hughes emphasizes the inequality that Africans have

faced throughout time. In ancient Egypt, the African slaves built great pyramids under

the name of their pharaoh. But even in modern (modern to Hughes) New York City,

nothing has changed. The Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world

when “Negro” was written, and as stated in the poem, the building was constructed by

mostly black, underpaid workers (Matlins). Hughes compares these two structures to

stress the frustration and disappointment felt by African Americans that went highly

unrecognized by other races, and emphasize that nothing yet had changed.

Although the speaker of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” looks back on the history

of mistreatment against Africans, rather than living it, the speaker recognizes that the

historical setting of his ancestors never effected how Africans were treated. No matter

the situation they were always looked down upon and ill-treated. But, unlike “Negro,”

the speaker of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” can see progress as time goes on. Lines five

through ten show the succession of time and setting as the speaker moves out of Africa

and into the United States.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
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I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln

Went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy

Bosom turn all golden in the sunset. (The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Lines 7-

10)

These lines show the speaker’s progression through slavery in Africa to the

emancipation of American slaves by Abraham Lincoln. It is important that Hughes does

this in the poem; the building progress shows that the future is even brighter for the

African Americans of Hughes’ time.

“I, Too” features two different pairs of settings and situations, one brighter and

more promising than the other. “I, too, sing America,” says the speaker in the first line

of the poem. This line sets the tone for the second stanza (I, Too, Line 1). Africans, as

well as blacks in America, are known for singing through their sorrows and bad times. In

Hughes’ day, jazz and the blues, musical genres that were innovated to better

emphasize the feelings of sorrow within the musicians and artists, were the sound of the

streets in Harlem (Celebrate). The speaker informs the reader that in a time where

“They send me to eat in the kitchen/ When company comes,” the speaker laments their

lack of value according to his or her oppressors (I, Too, Lines 3-4). In the third stanza, the

situation changes, but the setting remains the same. Now looking into the future the

speaker can see a time when “I’ll be at the table/ When company comes” (I, Too, Lines

9-10). The speaker can see the progression and the poem ends with “I, too am America”

(I, Too, Line 18). It is important that this change is made from the first line of the poem.

Now, rather than singing the sorrows of slavery and servitude, the speaker too has a
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true voice in a more racially equal society. People of other races now see the speaker as

an equal, looking at him for his value as a human being, rather than being misguided by

his skin color. The settings and situations of Hughes’ poetry, like in “I, Too,” often dictate

how the reader understands the speaker and how the audience sympathizes with the

African Americans of the time period within the poem.

Hughes’ influence on the black community of Harlem, as well as African

Americans across the country was extraordinary. His writing epitomized the other works

linked to the Harlem Renaissance and brought back the feelings and emotions

associated with the struggles of Africans throughout history and also during the time in

which Hughes himself lived. Hughes’ work and influence during the Harlem Renaissance

stand as a testament to the changing times of civil rights and equality for African

Americans during the mid-1900s in the United States. Using diction, tone, symbols,

rhythm, meter, speaker, setting and situation, Hughes’ work not only epitomizes the

struggle of African Americans throughout history but also their courage and pride;

Hughes calls to other races through his poetry to recognize the strength of his people.

“They’ll see how beautiful I am/ And be ashamed,” Hughes wrote in “I, Too” (I, Too,

Lines 16-17). African Americans as well as other races in the United States today look

back on the shared history of all Americans and can sympathize with Hughes’ speakers

and now see the cruel mistreatment and amazing growth of African Americans

throughout history.
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Work Cited

Celebrate Black History: The Harlem Renaissance. Biography.com, 8 Mar. 2008. Web.

26 Feb. 2011. <http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/harlem-renaissance.jsp>.

Hughes, Langston. “I, Too.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed.

Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 1137. Print.

Hughes, Langston. “Negro.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael

Meyer.
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9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 1139. Print.

Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” The Bedford Introduction to

Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.

1134. Print.

Matlins, Melissa. "Woolworth Building." Skyscraper.org. The Skyscraper Museum, 14

July 2008. Web. 26 Feb. 2011.

<http://www.skyscraper.org/TALLEST_TOWERS/t_woolworth.htm>.

Meyer, Michael. “An Introduction to His Work.” The Bedford Introduction to

Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.

1135-1137. Print.

Gabriella,

You’ve got a very well developed draft here. Good work. As you revise, keep mining the
details of these poems, looking more closely at the particular words and phrases, line by
line.

“Negro,” as your essay points out, chronicles the history of exploitation that black people
have endured through the ages. The speaker acknowledges the broad history of the
black experience, including slavery, the unappreciated role that blacks have had in the
building of civilizations, the positive contributions blacks have made as artists, and the
extent to which blacks have been victimized around the world.

Now notice that the speaker’s role shifts throughout the poem; the speaker has been a
slave, a worker, a singer, and a victim. Yet the self-definition of the speaker does not
vary; the poem begins and ends with the line “I am a Negro” (lines 1, 17). Consider how
this change in verb tense (from the present to the past and then back to the present)
contributes to the speaker’s personal and collective sense of identity. Think about why
the speaker, presumably an American “Negro,” nevertheless identifies so closely with
“my Africa” (3, 19).

In terms of space and time, think about the scope of the racial exploitation “Negro”
addresses. In the second stanza, the speaker offers two examples of his enslavement:
to Caesar and to George Washington (5–6). How does this image add to your historical
understanding of Caesar? What do you make of Hughes inviting us to contrast images of
Washington as a revolutionary freedom fighter and as a colonial slave owner? You might
consider further how this poem forces the reader to reconsider and reevaluate particular
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details of history.

Notice, too, how the repetition in the first and last stanzas brings this poem full circle.
What words or phrases suggest the speaker’s ability to endure hardships and
victimization? Can you see other ways in which the experiences of the speaker may be
considered cyclical? Might this poetic “cycle” support your interpretation that the speaker
recognizes no improvement in the living conditions of blacks in America?

By contrast, “I, Too” reveals the speaker’s optimism about the future of race relations in
America despite the overwhelming discrimination that he must endure daily. The
speaker’s acknowledgment that “I am the darker brother” (line 2) indicates the
brotherhood between blacks and whites that he feels. In the final line the speaker
asserts, “I, too, am America” (18), demonstrating his unwavering belief in his rightful
national identity and equal standing in society.

As you continue to think about this poem, consider how it incorporates images of racial
injustice yet still manages to suggest a hopeful outlook for the future. Examine the image
of the “darker brother” (2) sent to the kitchen to eat. Segregation was still firmly in place
when this poem was written; how does the image of eating in the kitchen expose the
racial injustices the speaker is forced to endure? You might also examine the reaction of
the speaker to his “banishment” to the kitchen (5–7). What do you think this reaction to
discrimination reveals about the speaker?
What about the attitude of the speaker toward his current situation and toward America?
Is his optimistic vision of the future clouded by his present predicament? The speaker’s
pride and confidence in the future are evident in his declaration that “Tomorrow / I’ll be at
the table / When company comes” (8–10). Think about how this conviction helps him
sustain his vision of a racially unified nation. You might also consider the issue of why
the speaker longs for acceptance in America, a country that has denied him his freedom
for so long.

Because rivers are the central image in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” you might think
further about the ideas you commonly associate with rivers. How do associations such
as fertility, life, timelessness, and exploration add to the poem’s meaning? Also note that
the Euphrates River is one of the rivers that, according to legend, bordered the Garden
of Eden. How does this association with the Christian myth of creation add to the poem’s
meaning? It may be helpful too to recognize the geographic locations of the rivers
Hughes names and the fact that they flow in different directions. The Nile and the Congo
are African rivers, the Euphrates flows through Turkey and Iraq, and the Mississippi
splits the United States. What do these diverse locations and directions suggest about
the speaker’s history?

Another important dimension of this poem is Hughes’s use of time. Notice how the
speaker stands outside of historical time; the narrative “I” has experienced these times
and places over the course of human existence. You might explore the connection
between the timeless narrator and the endurance and “timelessness” of rivers.

Consider, too, the serious tone of this poem. Can it also be interpreted as a celebration?
If so, what is the speaker celebrating, and what details contribute to this interpretation?
In what ways has the speaker taken an active role in the history described in the poem:
“I bathed” (line 5), “I built my hut near the Congo” (6), “I looked upon the Nile and raised
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the pyramids” (7), and so on. What do these actions suggest about the history of the
“Negro” in the title?

Before you revise, carefully review the requirements for Assignment 2, copied below.
For an effective revision in your final portfolio of revised work, your essay will need to
demonstrate that you can apply the rules and conventions for writing about literature,
which we’ve discussed in class.

Also, each major element of poetry has its own chapter devoted to it in your textbook.
These are listed on p. 741. In order to better understand the elements you’ve selected
to write about, take some time, before you revise, to study their corresponding chapters.

Finally, for your portfolio, consider doing some more research to learn what other
scholars have written about the poetry of Langston Hughes, particularly the poems
you’ve chosen here. You might find that incorporating additional ideas of others helps
you to develop your own argument about the meaning of these poems.

Work on revising this on your own, and then come let’s talk further about how your essay
is developing.

--M. Hall

Grade: 8 of 10 points

Assignment 2

Choose ONE of the following. Write a 5-6-page essay, which demonstrates the rules and
conventions of writing about literature discussed in class. Develop an argument about
the meaning of the texts.

Topic #1:

First, study Chapter 22, “Writing about Poetry: From Inquiry to Final Paper,” p. 790 in
your textbook.  Pay particular attention to the “Questions for Responsive Reading and
Writing.”  Then study Chapter 34, “A Study of Langston Hughes,” p. 1129.  Write an
argument analyzing 3 of Hughes’s poems included in your anthology. Discuss the ways
in which at least 5 of the following elements work to develop and reinforce the poem’s
themes.

To that end, your essay will need to demonstrate that you understand what we mean by
“theme”: “Its idea and the point around which the entire poem revolves, the theme is
ultimately what we respond to--or fail to respond to. All the other elements, in fact, are
typically there to contribute to the theme (1232):

diction and tone irony form

images sound and rhyme speaker

figures of speech rhythm and meter setting and situation

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symbols

Keep in mind that it is not sufficient merely to drop these key terms into your paper. To
be effective, your essay must demonstrate that you understand these terms and can
apply them in your explication of the poems.

You are not expected to consult secondary sources, but if you do, you must give credit
for the words and ideas of others, avoiding both misuse of sources and plagiarism.  If
you consult a source--any source--then you must cite and document it according to the
conventions of MLA style, including a Works Cited page.  If you’re not sure how to
incorporate a source, ask BEFORE you turn in your paper.

Follow the sample MLA papers posted on Moodle as examples.