To a Dead Friend
by Langston Hughes
The moon still sends its mellow light
Through the purple blackness of the night;
The morning star is palely bright
Before the dawn.
The sun still shines just as before;
The rose still grows beside my door,
[…]
Filed under: 20th-century, United States, poetry on March 13th, 2007 | No Comments »
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
by Langston Hughes
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me […]
Filed under: 20th-century, United States, poetry on March 5th, 2007 | No Comments »
Note on Commerical Theatre
by Langston Hughes
You’ve taken my blues and gone–
You sing ‘em on Broadway
And you sing ‘em in Hollywood Bowl,
And you mixed ‘em up with symphonies
And you fixed ‘em
So they don’t sound like me.
Yep, you done taken my blue and gone.
You also took my spirituals and gone.
You put me in Macbeth and Carmen Jones
And […]
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Air Raid: Barcelona
by Langston Hughes
Black smoke of sound
Curls against the midnight sky.
Deeper than a whistle,
Louder than a cry,
Worse than a scream
Tangled in the wail
Of a nightmare dream,
The siren
Of the air raid sounds.
Flames and bombs and
Death in the ear!
The siren announces
Planes drawing near.
Down from bedrooms
Stumble women in gowns.
Men, half-dressed,
Carrying children rush […]
Filed under: 20th-century, United States, poetry on March 5th, 2007 | 9 Comments »
Let America Be America Again
by Langston Hughes
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on th eplain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed–
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings […]
Filed under: 20th-century, United States, poetry on March 5th, 2007 | No Comments »
Black Dancers
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Ph.D.
by Langston Hughes
He never was a silly little boy
Who whispered in the class or threw spit balls,
Or pulled the hair of silly little girls,
Or disobeyed in any way the laws
That made the school a place of decent order
Where books were read and sums were proven true
And paper maps that showed the land and water
Were held […]
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Florida Road Workers
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Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria
by Langston Hughes
Fine living…à la carte??
Come to the Waldorf-Astoria!
LISTEN, HUNGRY ONES!
Look! See what Vanity Fair says about the
new Waldorf-Astoria:
“All the luxuries of private home….”
Now, won’t that be charming […]
Filed under: 20th-century, United States, poetry on March 5th, 2007 | No Comments »
I, Too
by Langston Hughes
The Weary Blues, 1926
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–
I, too, am America.
Filed under: 20th-century, United States, poetry on March 5th, 2007 | No Comments »