“Teacher” by Langston Hughes has sixteen lines and four stanzas. While the poem is certainly lyric it is irregular in rhythm with a general rhyme scheme of “abcb”, Hughes divides the 16 lines into four quatrains, or four stanzas of four lines. Enjambment, or continuing a thought to the next line is used in the last two lines, when the speaker fears that “the darkness teach/Me that nothing matters.” There is not a set meter or feet, ranging from a spondaic monometer in lines such as “No lights gleam” to trochaic tetrameter in lines such as “In this narrow bed of earth”. There is also an excessive number of syllables which do not fit into any specific foot. As stated before, there is a general rhyme scheme of “abcb”, with the second and fourth lines of each quatrain in end rhyme. Hughes uses words with longer vowels in the first three stanzas. In the first and third stanzas he uses a long “ē”; for example, “Forgetting every dream/.../ No lights gleam” and in the second stanza he uses a long “ō”; for example, “I sought to keep firm hold/.../ Though I pinched my soul.” In the last stanza Hughes jars the reader through the use of a short “ə” in the lines “Star-dust never scatters/.../Me that nothing matters.”
The speaker of the poem is not the poet, Langston Hughes, but rather a dead man. This is implied when he speaks of lying “beneath cool loam” , or being buried underground, and using the past tense when he discusses his life (i.e. he “sought to keep firm hold”, he “wanted to be a good man”, he “pinched [his] soul”). “Teacher” the title refers to the dead man and the mistakes he made during his life; while trying to learn, “more humbly did [he] teach,” i.e. not developing as a person. The speaker indicates he is regretful, with th...
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...ch the dead speaker feels the “cool loam”, which he has become so accustomed to underground.
The theme, or central life message that Hughes is trying to convey in this poem is that what people mean to do in their lives does not matter if they are not done; once a person dies, he or she is not able to accomplish what they wanted to do during their life. The speaker of this poem had ideals of what he wanted to do and who he wanted to be, as evidenced by the line “Humbly I tried to learn/.../I wanted to be a good man”. He didn’t live up to these ideals, as shown by the lines which succeed them “More humbly did I teach/.../I pinched my soul.” Like the stars, his ideals were “always out of reach.” Now that he is dead, he is no longer able to accomplish anything, he “trembles lest the darkness teach/[Him] that nothing matters.”
Works Cited
"Teacher" by Langston Hughes
It can cause one to become hopeless and think that it might not ever happen. One can be lead to thought that since Hughes is an African American he can not achieve his dreams due to the society that holds him back. One can see all throughout the poem Hughes uses words that perfectly describe a deferred or delayed dream. Hughes uses words like “fester”, “explode”, “sugar over”, “dry up” and “stink”. One can see that all the words describe a dream deferred in a negative and violent manner.
Langston Hughes was a large influence on the African-American population of America. Some of the ways he did this was how his poetry influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and the Harlem Renaissance. These caused the civil rights movement that resulted in African-Americans getting the rights that they deserved in the United States. Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was young and his grandmother raised him. She got him into literature and education; she was one of the most important influences on him. He moved around a lot when he was young, due to his parents divorce, but remained a good student and graduated high school. After this he traveled the world and worked in different places, all the things he saw in his travels influenced him. In 1924 he settled down in Harlem where he became one of the important figures in the Harlem Renaissance. He enjoyed listening to blues and jazz in clubs while he wrote his poetry. The music that he enjoyed greatly influenced the style and rhythm of his poetry. The poem “Dream Variations” by Hughes is about an average African-American who dreams of a world where African-Americans are not looked at or treated differently and they can rest peacefully. Yet in real life this was not so, black people and white people were not equal. And the world was not as forgiving and nice as in their dream. This poem is a good example of Hughes writing because it is typical of three things. The first is the common theme of the average life of an African-American and their struggles. Secondly, the style of his writing which is based on the rhythm of jazz and blues- he uses a lot of imagery and similes. Lastly, his influences which are his lonely childhood and growing up as an Afric...
So, the poem Does not have consistent rhyme. In “Harlem”, there is also no consistent rhyme. In the poem it states, “Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore—/And then run?/ Does it stink like rotten meat?/Or crust and sugar over—/like a syrupy sweet?” (Hughes 2-8). The rhyme pattern is ABCBDED.
Here Hughes is stating very generally and unspecific how he wishes for peace and love. Something that everyone would like but will probably never come true. This statement is an excellent attention getter. It tells about a dream that everyone would like without singling out any group of people to blame for the dream not coming true. Then as the poem goes on he gets more and more specific. Hughes then goes on to dream that everyone “Will know sweet freedoms way,/Where greed no longer sa...
Homework Machine is a poem written by Shel Silverstein. Shel Silverstein was one of the first poets I have read and have taken a great liking to. Homework Machine is one of the many poems that I remember as a child. Although very simple, Homework Machine is still a great example of poetry. In this analysis is will be going over the poetic diction, rhyme and meter, poetic devices, figurative language, and symbolism
In Langston Hughes’ poem, the author gives us vivid examples of how dreams get lost in the weariness of everyday life. The author uses words like dry, fester, rot, and stink, to give us a picture of how something that was originally intended for good, could end up in defeat. Throughout the play, I was able to feel how each character seemed to have their dreams that fell apart as the story went on. I believe the central theme of the play has everything to do with the pain each character goes thru after losing control of the plans they had in mind. I will attempt to break down each character’s dream and how they each fell apart as the play went on.
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.” –Edgar Allan Poe. Poetry is one of the world’s greatest wonders. It is a way to tell a story, raise awareness of a social or political issue, an expression of emotions, an outlet, and last but not least it is an art. Famous poet Langston Hughes uses his poetry as a musical art form to raise awareness of social injustices towards African-Americans during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Although many poets share similarities with one another, Hughes creatively crafted his poetry in a way that was only unique to him during the 1920’s. He implemented different techniques and styles in his poetry that not only helped him excel during the 1920’s, but has also kept him relative in modern times. Famous poems of his such as a “Dream Deferred,” and “I, Too, Sing America” are still being studied and discussed today. Due to the cultural and historical events occurring during the 1920’s Langston Hughes was able to implement unique writing characteristics such as such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues that is demonstrative of his writing style. Langston Hughes use of distinct characteristics such as irregular use of form, cultural and historical referenced themes and musical influences such as Jazz and the blues helped highlight the plights of African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance Era.
enable us to understand the moral of the poem. Which is work hard and you will receive you goals and never give up.
...s is related to his philosophy about doing the right thing and about a being a good person. But it goes beyond this. He spoke often about having true compassion. It isn’t enough to help those in need, but we must truly care about them, to take a good look and see how they got that way. He asked us to examine how we as a society can change the conditions that led them to be there in the first place. Doing this makes us better as people. I have found that it also makes me feel better. Never give up on your dreams. While his life was cut tragically short, he died in pursuit of his dream and in spite of everything he faced, he never gave up on it. He faced obstacles I could never imagine having to face, and still persisted. This reminds me that the small things in my life that often seem insurmountable, are just my excuses for not taking action and are not obstacles.
The "Langston Hughes" Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Lanston Hughes focuses more on rhythm then on rhyme, for example, the poem "The Weary Blues" reads like a blues song, which is what the poem is about. "Mother to Son" is a conversation a mother has to a child about what era life has been, and that no matter how hard life may seem, one should never give up climbing the "stairs". The poem seems to shift from good English to Black English and then back again, which to me shows...
To start, the structure of the initial assignment that the student must focus on is given differently then the rest of the poem. The majority of the poem is written in free verse. These verses are typical of the jazz-poetry style that became popular during the Harlem Renaissance. The easy style of jazz-poetry gives a dialogue feel to the poem that the reader can connect with. “As it appears, Langston Hughes’s outstanding collection of poems exemplifies the greatest of those qualities of jazz and blues, and his talent truly makes these poems come alive in the same way that jazz and blues music comes alive for the audience as well as for the musicians” (Davidas 1). You truly begin to see the internal struggle the student is having with his assignment and how he is grappling with more then just an assignment for English
In the poem it seems as if Langston is talking from the perspective of someone living in Harlem he
Instead of any hands-on activities, he was passively participating. I can relate to the speaker of this poem because I have been in lectures where I feel so bored. Especially in my morning classes, where I have not fully awakened yet, I can barely focus on the information because it usually does not interest me. It does not help when a teacher has a monotone voice and does not see very interested in the topic. The length of this poem in the first half is long and drags on, an
When analyzing the poem, “Life is Fine” by Langston Hughes, at first glance, it may seem like a short and simple poem about life. The poem is much more complex. The poem is about the obstacles that some people face in life and how to find the strength to persevere. This poem helps the reader appreciate life and encourages us to triumph over the most emotionally challenging obstacles rather than considering death as a solution. The character in the poem, although weak and confused at first, finds the strength to deal with the issues he is struggling with and comes to appreciate life, rather than turning to a tragic way out. The character makes a half-hearted attempt to take his life twice during the short poem because of the emotional pain of lost love, but fortunately, finds reasons why he shouldn’t. The character, although very confused, sees that there is good in his life and realizes that his lost love is not worth giving his life up for. Hughes had a tough childhood, being raised mostly by his grandmother. His poem “Life is Fine” very possibly was close to his heart considering he may have faced some of the same struggles he wrote of in his poems. Hughes has written other works such as biographies and short stories about life and its experiences and his works are valuable to readers in their lives as well (Norris). Throughout this poem, the character continuously tries to take their life but cannot do so because there are clearly more reasons to live than to die. This poem echoes the thoughts that people have about death when things get difficult and how they consider turning to death as the answer. Learning to deal with obstacles and appreciate every moment is a valuable skill in life. This poem is an inspiration...