How Does Langston Hughes Use Poetic Devices In Mother To Son

Langston Hughes’s “Mother to Son” was first published in Crisis magazine in 1922. In the poem, a hopeful mother warns her child that many trails will present themselves to him over the course of his life. The mother encourages her son that no matter what, he must triumph over the struggles and continue to press forward. She relates life’s rigorous journey to climbing a staircase. The mother explains how her life has not been easy, or in other words, “a staircase made of crystal” The life of the mother has been an endless struggle described as stairs with protuberant nails and fragments of wood sticking out, boards ripped up and spaces where carpet was omitted. Though she described her life as an almost unclimbable staircase, she kept moving onward. She wants her son to do as she has done and pull motivation from her severe situations and remain steady.

“Mother to Son” is written in the free verse poetic device and utilizes idiomatic linguistic. Other devices shown include extended metaphor, relating life to a staircase. The focal imagery of the poem is

the “crystal staircase”. It resonates with the story of Jacob’s ladder. Jacob, the child of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, was escaping from his identical twin brother Esau, who had sworn to kill him. Esau believed that Jacob had taken his birthright, the Jewish prerogative to inheritance and blessing. On his way to his relative's household in Haran, Jacob lay for the night near Luz. As he was dreaming, he had an apparition of a ladder, or stairway, between heaven and earth. God's seraphs were on it, ascending and descending. The stairway signified a freedom path of deliverance. The crystal stairs are mentioned again in the concluding line of the poem to further stress the everlasting struggle to reach fulfillment and aims. The mother tells the son to never collapse under the pressure that life will harbor. Repetition is utilized in various segments such as “don’t you turn back./Don’t you set down on the steps./Cause you finds it’s kinder hard./Don’t you fall now” These segments accentuate the restless anticipation the mother has of her son. She wants him to resemble her, in regards to her tenaciousness.

Hughes’s choice of poetic devices assisted in getting the overall point displayed in clear light.

Hughes uses comparison of the mother’s life and an unconceivable staircase to reveal that her life has not been tranquil. The comparison device is assisted along with the extended metaphor device, to give a much deeper description of the mother’s situation. Repetition is used to underline that life itself is a rough climb. Imagery is the most notable device used. Biblical imagery of Jacobs’s ladder reverberates closely to the staircase described to the son. For Hughes to make such a resemblance to a biblical story could say that he believes in Christianity. “Mother to Son” lacks regular rhythm or any formal rhyme scheme. The poem is written in an irregular metrical pattern. Informal language is incorporated to the dialect of an African American. The dialect also depicts a maternal figure with treasured advice to

offer.