Comparing Poems 'Harlem And' The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

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In Langston Hughes poems, there are different images that can be extracted but for the purpose of this essay, my emphasis will focus on the three images extracted from two poems “Harlem” and “The Negro speaks of rivers” as we studied in this term. Those three major images express the feeling of frustration, identity and courage. In the two poems “Harlem” and “The Negro speaks of rivers” the reader can easily see all the three images mentioned above. This research paper explores the expression of the writer about the feeling of frustrations of African people about social and political inequality between white people and black people. Another thing this paper will tackle is the identity issues that are seen in those two poems: an identity hiding …show more content…

While he is still the same person but because of the change is situations he was at first not willing to be considered as a Negro then suddenly he is very proud of Africa at the point of presenting the good time that he had in Africa. View on the above stanza Hughes shows his identity and also the courage plus determination to convince others in what he believes. Supporting that being African black is opportunity as in Africa you can see many good things that you cannot find anywhere else. To sum up, these two poems are powerful and the reader can extract different images some that complimenting others that are controversy. Foundation to this, his courage, expression and determination are what makes Hughes such an important black poet. Based on Hughes essay wrote in a 1927 he stated “I am not interested in doing tricks with rhymes. I am interested in reproducing the human soul, if I can”, which he truly did. In addition that he brilliantly combines formal poetry with the oral tradition, which show how he was unique compared to other poets of his

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