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Analysis of the Langston Hughes poem
Analysis of the Langston Hughes poem
Analysis of the Langston Hughes poem
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Soothing Soul Singing
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,” stated Martin Luther King, Jr. Langston Hughes, the author of “Trumpet Player,” pioneered a period called the Harlem Renaissance in America (“The Harlem Renaissance”). This movement occurred after World War 1 and celebrated the African-American heritage and culture (“The Harlem Renaissance”). Hughes wrote during a time when the Negro was considered an inferior human who was segregated from the white-dominated society (“The Harlem Renaissance”). In the poem “Trumpet Player,” Hughes exemplifies the literary characteristics of metaphors and imagery coupled with a unique scansion to assert the theme that the Negro
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The work contains five eight-line stanzas followed by a four-line coda at the conclusion of the poem. All five stanzas are similar in style and length. Although "Trumpet Player" is a free form poem, it contains a rhyme scheme whereby the fourth and eighth lines in each stanza rhyme. Additionally, the poem contains more rhyming in the first and last stanzas than the rest of the poem. The rhythm of the work is similar to jazz music which was popular during the Harlem Renaissance era. Also, Hughes utilizes assonance and consonance in this literary work. The poem contains a long "i" sound in the third and fourth stanzas that slows the poem (17-32). At the beginning and the end of the work, consonance appears through the use of the sharp, hissing "s" sound (1-8, 40-44). This sharpness reflects the harshness of slavery that is portrayed in the first stanza. The consonance helps introduce the theme of the poem and captures the readers' attention. Toward the end of the poem, Hughes shifts to a relaxing tone by using the soothing letters "m" and "l" in the word "mellows" (44). The organizational structure does not accurately demonstrate the way the poem reads. Typically a shorter poem reads quickly. However, "Trumpet Player" has a slower pace and a jazz feel. Punctuation adds to the framework. There are a few commas, and the poem does not contain periods or …show more content…
"Trumpet Player" defines the way the Negro will always carry the painful memories of being whipped and beaten as a slave, but he overcomes this pain through the ecstasy of the arts, especially music. Hughes wants to show the reader that African-Americans should be treated equally, and their culture should be accepted as much as the heritage of white individuals. Langston Hughes creates rhythm in the poem by repeating certain lines to demonstrate emphasis. The phrase, “The Negro with the trumpet at his lips,” is repeated four times in the poem (1-2, 9-10, 33-34). Emphasis is placed on an African-American trumpet player who could be Louis Armstrong or another prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, Hughes applies poetic devices to paint a picture for the reader. In the second stanza, Hughes compares the trumpeter's hair to a "jet" or "crown" through the utilization of a simile (15-16). Jet is a dark, black coal, and he describes it as a crown which could represent victory over slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 (“Jet”). Also, the poem envelops a couple of metaphors. Hughes compares the sweetness of the trumpet’s music to the sugar of honey when he says, "Trumpet at his lips is honey (18-19)." Furthermore, he refers to the music as a "hypodermic needle to his soul. (39-40)." Hughes reveals that the trumpet sound is as soothing as a
In his poems, Langston Hughes treats racism not just a historical fact but a “fact” that is both personal and real. Hughes often wrote poems that reflect the aspirations of black poets, their desire to free themselves from the shackles of street life, poverty, and hopelessness. He also deliberately pushes for artistic independence and race pride that embody the values and aspirations of the common man. Racism is real, and the fact that many African-Americans are suffering from a feeling of extreme rejection and loneliness demonstrate this claim. The tone is optimistic but irritated. The same case can be said about Wright’s short stories. Wright’s tone is overtly irritated and miserable. But this is on the literary level. In his short stories, he portrays the African-American as a suffering individual, devoid of hope and optimism. He equates racism to oppression, arguing that the African-American experience was and is characterized by oppression, prejudice, and injustice. To a certain degree, both authors are keen to presenting the African-American experience as a painful and excruciating experience – an experience that is historically, culturally, and politically rooted. The desire to be free again, the call for redemption, and the path toward true racial justice are some of the themes in their
1920’s Harlem was a time of contrast and contradiction, on one hand it was a hotbed of crime and vice and on the other it was a time of creativity and rebirth of literature and at this movement’s head was Langston Hughes. Hughes was a torchbearer for the Harlem Renaissance, a literary and musical movement that began in Harlem during the Roaring 20’s that promoted not only African-American culture in the mainstream, but gave African-Americans a sense of identity and pride.
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement during the 1920s and 1930s, in which African-American art, music and literature flourished. It was significant in many ways, one, because of its success in destroying racist stereotypes and two, to help African-Americans convey their hard lives and the prejudice they experienced. In this era, two distinguished poets are Langston Hughes, who wrote the poem “A Dream Deferred” and Georgia Douglas Johnson who wrote “My Little Dreams”. These two poems address the delayment of justice, but explore it differently, through their dissimilar uses of imagery, tone and diction.
He was labeled the race man” by the African American media. The race equality was shaped during his youth in Washington DC. This State was where the great importance of African-American heritage, pride and identity was pass on African American children. Children that were given the lesson to command and not demand respect (Cohen 2004). These early experiences taught and encourage Ellington to live life to create solutions for overcoming racial barriers stereotypes. As a result, the marketing of Ellington successfully met those objectives and laid the basis for the support of a lifetime of creativity (Cohen 2004). Hence, music in itself set the optimum the scene for Ellington to challenge the outer limit of African American oppression by a life of European
Because of that, his writing seems to manifest a greater meaning. He is part of the African-American race that is expressed in his writing. He writes about how he is currently oppressed, but this does not diminish his hope and will to become the equal man. Because he speaks from the point of view of an oppressed African-American, the poem’s struggles and future changes seem to be of greater importance than they ordinarily would. The point of view of being the oppressed African American is clearly evident in Langston Hughes’s writing.
Racism and the sense to fulfill a dream has been around throughout history. Langston Hughes’s poems “Harlem” and “I, Too” both depict the denial of ethnicity mix in society and its impact on an African American’s dream. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” uses jazz music to tie the belief of one’s intention and attainment to the black race. The two main characters are different in a way of one fitting into the norm of the American Dream and the other straying away from such to fulfill his own dream. All three pieces of writing occur during the same time in history in which they connect the black race with the rejection of the American Dream and the opportunity to obtain an individual effort by a culture.
Through many Langston Hughes and Richard Wright’s literary works, both authors sought to build up his community of African-Americans by instilling in them a sense of pride and triumph. This theme was frequently applied to their works as they wrote to encourage their readers to fight the skirmish against racism. They had hopes that their writings would somehow make a difference, a difference in which the world could change from its biased ways.
"For the first time since the plantation days artists began to touch new material, to understand new tools and to accept eagerly the challenge of Black poetry, Black song and Black scholarship."1
During the 1920's and 30’s, America went through a period of astonishing artistic creativity, the majority of which was concentrated in one neighborhood of New York City, Harlem. The creators of this period of growth in the arts were African-American writers and other artists. Langston Hughes is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the period know as the Harlem Renaissance. With the use of blues and jazz Hughes managed to express a range of different themes all revolving around the Negro. He played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance, helping to create and express black culture. He also wrote of political views and ideas, racial inequality and his opinion on religion. I believe that Langston Hughes’ poetry helps to capture the era know as the Harlem Renaissance.
Lastly, Langston Hughes’s poem, “The Negro Speaks Of Rivers”, ends with “I’ve known rivers: / Ancient, dusky rivers. / My soul has grown deep like the rivers (8-10). The speaker voices out his last breath to which from an analytical standpoint, the theme of death arises. Langston Hughes follows T.S. Eliot’s suggestion as he cries out for the African-American race to alienate themselves by embracing their own artistic form, claiming that black is beautiful.
The Harlem Renaissance refers to a prolific period of unique works of African-American expression from about the end of World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression. Although it is most commonly associated with the literary works produced during those years, the Harlem Renaissance was much more than a literary movement; similarly, it was not simply a reaction against and criticism of racism. The Harlem Renaissance inspired, cultivated, and, most importantly, legitimated the very idea of an African-American cultural consciousness. Concerned with a wide range of issues and possessing different interpretations and solutions of these issues affecting the Black population, the writers, artists, performers and musicians of the Harlem Renaissance had one important commonality: "they dealt with Black life from a Black perspective." This included the use of Black folklore in fiction, the use of African-inspired iconography in visual arts, and the introduction of jazz to the North.[i] In order to fully understand the lasting legacies of the Harlem Renaissance, it is important to examine the key events that led to its beginnings as well as the diversity of influences that flourished during its time.
Goldman, Suzy B. "James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Negro American Literature Forum 3rd ser. 8 (1974): 231-33. St. Louis University. Web. Apr.-May 2014.
Langston Hughes is the author of the poem ‘trumpet player’ among other poems that weaves in the contemporary ideas relating to racial issues, past memories and jazz music (Alexander and Ferris 55). Essentially, his themes centered on African- American made him an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. The poet was born in Joplin, Missouri in the year 1902. His first work on poetry was published in the year 1921 (Baird 599). From there on, he wrote innumerable works of poetry, plays as well as proses (Baird 599). The poet died in the year 1967 out of prostate cancer complications. The trumpet player is one of the most important works done by Hughes. The title of the poem introduces the scene but it is quite figurative. At its face value, the title
Analyzing the poem’s title sets a somber, yet prideful tone for this poem. The fact that the title does not say “I Speak of Rivers,” but instead, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1) shows that he is not only a Negro, but that he is not one specific Negro, but in his first person commentary, he is speaking for all Negroes. However, he is not just speaking for any Negroes. Considering the allusions to “Mississippi” (9) and “Abe Lincoln” (9) are not only to Negroes but also to America, confirms that Hughes is talking for all African Americans. This poem is a proclamation on the whole of African American history as it has grown and flourished along the rivers which gave life to these people.
As it mentioned above, the title itself, draws attention to the world-renowned music created by African Americans in the 1920s’ as well as to the book’s jazz-like narrative structure and themes. Jazz is the best-known artistic creation of Harlem Renaissance. “Jazz is the only pure American creation, which shortly after its birth, became America’s most important cultural export”(Ostendorf, 165). It evolved from the blues