Qianlang Frankie Xun

Ms. Bertolo

English 4U

25 October, 2023

1. Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes

1.1.Let America be America again.

1.2.Let it be the dream it used to be.
1.3.Let it be the pioneer on the plain
1.4.Seeking a home where he himself is free.

1.5.(America never was America to me.)

1.6.Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—

1.7.Let it be that great strong land of love
1.8.Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
1.9.That any man be crushed by one above.

1.10. (It never was America to me.)

1.11. O, let my land be a land where Liberty

1.12. Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
1.13. But opportunity is real, and life is free,
1.14. Equality is in the air we breathe.

1.15. (There’s never been equality for me,

1.16. Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

1.17. Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?

1.18. And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

1.19. I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,

1.20. I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
1.21. I am the red man driven from the land,
1.22. I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
1.23. And finding only the same old stupid plan
1.24. Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
1.25. I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
1.26. Tangled in that ancient endless chain
1.27. Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
1.28. Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
1.29. Of work the men! Of take the pay!
1.30. Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

1.31. I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.

1.32. I am the worker sold to the machine.
1.33. I am the Negro, servant to you all.
1.34. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
1.35. Hungry yet today despite the dream.
1.36. Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
1.37. I am the man who never got ahead,
1.38. The poorest worker bartered through the years.

1.39. Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
1.40. In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
1.41. Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
1.42. That even yet its mighty daring sings
1.43. In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
1.44. That’s made America the land it has become.
1.45. O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
1.46. In search of what I meant to be my home—
1.47. For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
1.48. And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
1.49. And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
1.50. To build a “homeland of the free.”

1.51. The free?

1.52. Who said the free? Not me?

1.53. Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
1.54. The millions shot down when we strike?
1.55. The millions who have nothing for our pay?
1.56. For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
1.57. And all the songs we’ve sung
1.58. And all the hopes we’ve held
1.59. And all the flags we’ve hung,
1.60. The millions who have nothing for our pay—
 1.61. Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

1.62. O, let America be America again—

1.63. The land that never has been yet—
1.64. And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
1.65. The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
1.66. Who made America,
1.67. Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
1.68. Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
1.69. Must bring back our mighty dream again.

1.70. Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—

1.71. The steel of freedom does not stain.
1.72. From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
1.73. We must take back our land again,
1.74. America!

1.75. O, yes,
1.76. I say it plain,
1.77. America never was America to me,
1.78. And yet I swear this oath—
1.79. America will be!

1.80. Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,

1.81. The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
1.82. We, the people, must redeem
1.83. The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
1.84. The mountains and the endless plain—
1.85. All, all the stretch of these great green states—
1.86. And make America again!

2. The poem was written in 1936 by the American poet Langston Hughes.

3.

3.1.Langston Hughes was a major figure in the artistic, literary, and intellectual

movements in the area of Harlem, U.S. He was specifically a leading figure that
 defined the “Harlem Renaissance, which was an intellectual movement that

helped African Americans find their place in the wider society of the U.S. and

within the world and defined their culture beyond the stereotypes imposed on

them (The Editors).

3.2.Hughes’s poems often illustrate the plain and simple lives of African Americans

and, in a romantic way, praise this simplicity.

3.3.He was a pioneer in the genre of poetry called “Jazz poetry”, which are poems

that resemble the rhythms and other components of jazz music. It is, in brief, a

genre of poetry that takes jazz music as its primary inspiration. This poetry genre

remained fairly popular throughout the Harlem Renaissance, the Beat Movement,

and the Black Arts Movement (“A Brief Guide to Jazz Poetry”).

4. Since you advocate for black identity and culture so much in your poems, do you think

that defining the cultural and social identity of african americans as a whole will cause

other people to see you as a distinct group, thus widening the segregation between races?

5. This poem consists of 635 words, eighty-six lines, and seventeen stanzas. The number of

words per line varies throughout the poem, with the shortest line being only two words

and the longest being eleven words. In the beginning, the poem shows a pattern of a

longer stanza followed by a single line, but this pattern is quickly interrupted by a series

of consecutive long stanzas.

6. This poem comments on the identity and society of the United States as suggested by its

title “Let America Be America Again” and criticizes the country for not satisfying the

hopes that people had for it. It gives multiple specific examples of social inequality and
 injustice and focuses on these issues through the lenses of a few social groups: African

Americans, immigrants, North American natives, farmers, etc.

7. The beginning of the poem presents the visions and hopes that people have held for

America, and for example, it makes a specific reference to people’s image of America as

the land of liberty by saying “O, let my land be a land where Liberty” (Hughes l. 11).

However, it transitions rapidly to a series of facts that highlight the injustices within the

society of America. In the end, it heavily criticizes American society for the ugliness that

underlies it with a spiteful tone.

8. In brief, the central theme of this poem is the juxtaposition between people’s image of

America and the reality within American society. Hughes’s main message is that America

is not a land of opportunities, freedom, and happiness as in people’s hopes. It is filled

with greed, oppression, and filth. This message is only apparent towards the end of the

poem when the poet becomes spiteful of the matter at hand.

9. Spiteful and critical

10. This poem can be seen as a lyrical poem as it frequently uses alliteration creating a

rhythmic flow throughout the entire poem. Moreover, it also contains several lines in

parentheses at the beginning, and they can be seen as a second voice in a song. In

addition, given Hughes’s background as a pioneer of Jazz Poetry, it can be reasonably

inferred that this poem is also related to and inspired by the jazz musical genre.

11. I selected this poem because I was drawn to the cynical tone that the poet uses which is a

tone that many twentieth-century thinkers like to use. American people had great utopian

hopes after World War II because they proved their competence on the world stage, and

they were also offered an opportunity and the motivation to rethink their societies and
 how they should live. However, among the hopefulness of the people, thinkers like

Hughes himself seek to expose reality and make people see the issues that are still left

unresolved. What draws me to this poem is this critical examination of the American

Dream but also its powerful message of hope for change.

A specific group of lines that caught my attention is “O, let America be America again

The land that never has been yet And yet must be” (Hughes ll. 62-64). This line

encapsulates the essence of the poem's message. Hughes acknowledges that the American

Dream and the American ideal for the "land of the free," have not been fully realized for

everyone, especially for marginalized social groups. Yet, instead of sheer criticism, the

phrase "And yet must be" represents a call to action and a vision for a future in which

America lives up to its promises.

12. This poem reminds me of William S. Burroughs' 1986 Thanksgiving Prayer. Burroughs

was an American author in the Beat Generation who often challenged society in radical

and cynical ways. These two works are similar because they share the common themes of

critical reflection on American society and the pursuit of the American Dream. While

Hughes's poem expresses a longing for a more inclusive and just America, Burroughs'

prayer takes a darker and more satirical approach, critiquing the shortcomings and

betrayals within American society. Moreover, these two works are similar in that they

both use repetition frequently to use the same critical tone on different subjects or

examples.

13. A line that I found confusing is “I am the red man driven from the land” (Hughes l. 21)

because the term "red man" was unfamiliar to me. However, upon research, I learned that
 "red man" is an offensive term referring to Native Americans or North American

Indigenous people.

14.

14.1. connive: to allow something illegal to happen secretly.

14.2. Red man: an offensive term referring to Native Americans or North American

Indigenous people.

14.3. Lea: an area of grass.

14.4. Foundry: the place for casting metal.

14.5. Leech: a type of parasitic worm that often sucks blood.

15.

15.1. This poem does not have a clearly structured rhyme scheme. However, there

are frequent instances where a few lines close together rhyme with each other to

create a sense of musicality. For example, “I am the immigrant clutching the hope

I seek—” (Hughes l. 22) rhymes with “Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the

weak.” (l. 24).

15.2. This poem is written in free verse, which means it does not adhere to a strict

poetic meter or rhyme scheme.

15.3. In the line “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—” (Hughes l. 6),

the consonant sound ‘drea’ is repeated three times. Moreover, in the line “From

those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,” (l. 72), the consonant sound ‘li’

is repeated four times, and compared to the previous use of alliteration, this

repeated sound is more sharp and wicked, reflecting the meaning of the line.
15.4. “Let America be America again. / Let it be the dream it used to be. / Let it be

the pioneer on the plain” (Hughes ll. 1-3). The word ‘let’ is repeated in the first

three lines and also throughout the poem.

15.5. In the line “And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,” (Hughes l. 48), the

poet describes the beautiful landscapes where people who moved to America

came from, creating a sense of regret in the thought that these are the places that

people abandoned for the idealized American society.

15.6. In the lines “O, let my land be a land where Liberty / Is crowned with no false

patriotic wreath,” (Hughes ll. 11-12), the concept of liberty is described as being

crowned which is an example of personification because only a person can be

crowned with something.

15.7. The poem repeatedly uses parallel structure to list the groups that are subject

to injustice. For example, "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—” (Hughes ll. 19-22). The same

beginning structure of ‘I am’ is used in these lines to show the parallel

relationship of the four groups.

15.8. None

15.9. The poem alludes to various instances of inequality in American history. For

example, it makes a connection to slavery by saying “I am the Negro bearing

slavery’s scars” (Hughes l. 20), and this is used as an example of the oppression

that existed in the U.S.

15.10. These are several examples of enjambment, for example line 11, “O, let my

land be a land where Liberty” (Hughes l. 11), is not a complete sentence and

continues to the next line “Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,” (l. 12).

15.11. none

15.12. “From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,” (Hughes l. 72). In

this line, Hughes compares people who take advantage of other people to leeches,

a type of bloodsucking parasite.

15.13. In the line “Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak” (Hughes l. 24), people

who seek to oppress others for their own greed are compared to as dogs.

15.14. This entire poem can be interpreted as a situational irony because the very

definition of situational irony by Dictionary.com is “irony involving a situation in

which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the

outcome is contrary to what was expected” (“Situational Irony”). In this case,

American society is expected to be a freedom and just society where everyone can

live the American dream, but the poem presents that this is not the case or even

the opposite of this expectation.

15.15. none

15.16. Paradox is used by Hughes in the title, Let America Be America Again, as the

first ‘america’ refers to the current America in the sense of the real American

society, but the second ‘america’ refers to the idealized version of America that is

characterized by the American dream. The paradox lies in the fact that the

America is simply America, and it cannot be made into itself. However, upon

close reading, the two uses of the word ‘america’ have different meanings.
 15.17. none

15.18. There are several refrains. The line “Let America Be America Again”

(Hughes l. 1) is repeated numerous times, once verbatim. “America never was

America to me” (l. 5) is also a line repeated throughout the poem.

15.19. In lines eleven and twelve, “O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is

crowned with no false patriotic wreath,” (Hughes ll. 11-12), the ‘patriotic wreath’

is symbol for the patriotic emotions of American people. This patriotism is often

praised without considering the reality of the nation. In this line, Hughes attempts

to describe a version of America that deserves to be praised with patriotism.

16. The repetition of phrases like "Let America be America again" and the use of parallel

structures such as “I am [...]" and “Of [...]” help to reinforce the central themes and

messages of the poem and creates a powerful musical flow that increase the weight of

Hughes’s message. It creates a sense of urgency, emphasizing the importance of

reclaiming the American dream.

Moreover, the poem’s use of allusion and references to various historical and cultural

elements, such as the concept of the American dream and various specific cultural, social,

and economic groups help to connect the poem to American narratives and experiences,

making it more specific, relevant, and better understood by the readers.

Part B:

Langston Hughes's poem Let America Be America Again can be analyzed through a

Marxist lens, shedding light on the socioeconomic class struggles and power dynamics between

the different social and cultural groups. In this poem, the poet critiques the American dream,

which represents the promise of the opportunity to make a better life by one’s own effort. From a

Marxist lens, the American dream can be seen as the ability of people to overcome class struggle

and move beyond their class. Yet, the poem reveals the stark contrast between this dream and the

socio-economic inequalities that persist in the Capitalist American society.

The poem delves into various aspects of class conflict. The most Marxist example is the

line “I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil” (Hughes l. 31). Here, the word "bondsman" implies

a sense of servitude to the land and those who control it. The sense of servitude is indicative of

the Marxist description of the bourgeoisie’s exploitation of the working class, who often work

tirelessly on the land while gaining disproportionately small rewards, highlighting the

profit-driven nature of agriculture. Similarly, lines such as “I am the worker sold to the machine”

(Hughes l. 32), draw attention to the dehumanizing aspects of Marxist theory. The concept of

being ‘sold to the machine’ symbolizes the loss of autonomy, as workers become parts of a larger

industrial system. Furthermore, Hughes's poem points out that the American dream is a promise

that is unattainable for most, as the poet states “The millions who have nothing for our pay— /

Except the dream that’s almost dead today” (Hughes ll. 60-61). The American dream, which

should represent prosperity and equality for all, is portrayed as unattainable for the vast majority

of the population but easily accessible for the bourgeoisie. This aligns with Marxist principles, as

Marxism seeks to expose the vast inequality between the top few of society and the rest.
 The poem certainly uses an active tone that calls for drastic change, as it asserts that the

original American dream ought to be realized. Equal opportunities for all classes need to be

accessible. It calls for a reform of the capitalist structure that perpetuates inequality. This Marxist

analysis reveals that Hughes's poem is not simply a critical reflection on the American

experience but also a social and political critique of economic inequality and a call for reform to

create a more just American society.

In conclusion, Langston Hughes's "Let America Be America Again" challenges the

American dream and exposes the socio-economic inequalities and class struggles within

American society. Through a Marxist lens, the poem makes apparent the exploitation of poorer

classes, such as farmers to workers and critiques the concentration of wealth and power in the

hands of the few.

 Works Cited

“A Brief Guide to Jazz Poetry.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, 15 July 2020,

https://poets.org/text/brief-guide-jazz-poetry. Accessed October 20, 2023.

History.com Editors. “Langston Hughes - Career, Poems & Legacy.” History.com, A&E

Television Networks, 24 January 2023,

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/langston-hughes. Accessed October 20,

2023.

“Situational Irony.” Dictionary.Com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/situational%20irony.

Accessed 23 October 2023.

The Editors. “The Harlem Renaissance.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,

www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/145704/an-introduction-to-the-harlem-renaissanc.

Accessed 21 October 2023.