5 Poems by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)


Langston Hughes' grand uncle, John Mercer Langston, was the first black congressman elected from Virginia in 1888. [1] Born James Mercer Langston Hughes February 1, 1902, both of his parents were of mixed race. His mother Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston was a school teacher. His father, James Nathaniel Hughes, left the family when Langston was a child. [2]

After his parents separated, Langston was raised by his maternal grandmother, Mary Patterson, in Lawrence, Kansas. [3] She impressed racial pride in the young Langston. [4] When she died he went to live with family friends James and Mary Reed. During this time his mother had been seeking employment. He reunited with his mother after she re-married in Lincoln, Illinois. [5]

He attended Columbia, but left left because of racial prejudice. [6] Hughes then worked odd jobs and earned a B.A. From Lincoln University in 1929. His political views had developed left of center, but Arnold Rampersad writes that during WWII his views were more aligned with the center. [7] Still, in 1953, Senator Joseph McCarthy "forced him to...testify officially about his politics." [8] But, the disgrace was soon conferred on the discredited McCarthy.

Langston Hughes was an influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's and 30's. [9] He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1935 and established a theater troupe in Los Angeles. In addition to poetry he wrote short stories, plays, operas, novels, childrens' books and 2 autobiographies. [10]

In the 1950's and 60's Hughes' fell out of favor with younger black writers who considered his views dated. [11]

Langston Hughes died May 22, 1967 from complications from prostrate cancer.


Text of Poems
Theme for English B
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=177397

Madam's Past History
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=177392

The Negro Speaks of Rivers
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15722
(Listen To Hughes read it on this page too.)

Night Funeral in Harlem
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15613

Dream Variations
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15610

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Sources & Notes
Wikipedia: Langston Hughes (Notes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,9, 10, 11)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes


Rampersad, Arnold, The Life of Langston Hughes Volume 1: I, Too, Sing America. Oxford University Press 1986 page 56 (Note 6)

Modern American Poetry: Arnold Rampersad, "Hughes' Life and Career" From The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Copyright © 1997 by Oxford University Press
(Note 7, 8)
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/life.htm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLjYflvXYIM&feature=related