The Harlem Renaissance: The Poetry Of Langston Hughes

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Recommended: "Negro" by Langston Hughes

Two of Hughes’ poems that I would consider to be “simple” are, Negro and Dream Variations. The poem, Negro, says a great deal about the Harlem Renaissance. I believe that Hughes wrote this poem to explain the perspective a Black American had during this time period. The poem begins with, “I am a Negro:Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa.” (Hugh,745). Hughes explains all of the things he was during this time period. One significant line is, “I’ve been a singer:/All the way from Africa to Georgia/ I carried my sorrow songs. /I made ragtime.”(Hughes, 745). All of which Hughes claims to be all people that have had significance in African American history. He lists a slave, worker, singer, and victim throughout this

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