preview

Langston Hughes - A Literary Genius Essay

Good Essays

Langston Hughes (1902-1967), one of the most prominent figures in the world of Harlem, has come to be an African American poet as well as a legend of a variety of fields such as music, children's literature and journalism. Through his poetry, plays, short stories, novels, autobiographies, children's books, newspaper columns, Negro histories, edited anthologies, and other works, Hughes is considered a voice of the African-American people and a prime example of the magnificence of the Harlem Renaissance who promoted equality, condemned racism and injustice that the Negro society endured, and left behind a precious literary and enduring legacy for the future generations. In an endeavor to explore why and to what extent his poetry has still …show more content…

society. Besides, delivering his poetry from his heart, Hughes made many black readers feel as though everyday practices of their lives was portrayed in his writing, as writer Ishmael Reed once said, “We should honor Langston Hughes for his ability to say what was in souls of millions� . In a 1996 essay on Langston Hughes' Collected Poems in the New Republic, Helen Vendler, one of America's top poetry critics, echoed Rampersad’s point when she said that most of his poems are accessible to anyone who can read, and even the more allusive ones generally mention events that were, at the time, in the daily newspapers . In addition, when mentioning of Hughes’ masterpiece “ The Negro Speak of Rivers�, Kevin Powell, writer, founding staff member and former senior writer for Vibe magazine who helped introduce the hip-hop generation to Hughes' work, noted, “Any group can relate to that piece. If you're an immigrant coming from Ireland or Italy, or a Jew who has escaped Nazi Germany, or if you're a woman, you can relate to that piece _ or if you're gay or lesbian, or obviously if you're African-American". However, behind their apparent simplicity, the glory of Langston Hughes' poems was to use many symbols to illustrate his main themes and still maintain the elements of profundity, humor and irony in the meanings such as those in “Ku Klux�, “The Negro Speak of Rivers�, “What Happened to a Dream Deferred ?�, “I, too, Sing

Get Access