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Langston HughesA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
This poem contains no set metrical pattern or rhyme scheme. It is written entirely in free verse with lines that are all end-stopped, meaning there is no inherent enjambment in the poem—the lines are enjambed only when the print format necessitates as much, with a narrower page-width creating those line breaks. Lines 2 and 7 especially are unconventionally long, but if printed on a wide enough page, there is no enjambment. There are two possible reasons for this unorthodox form: the influence of Walt Whitman, and the rejection of traditionally European poetic forms.
Whitman was one of Hughes’s biggest influences, and his style famously included long lines, no set rhymes or meter, and everyday language. Hughes follows that approach in this and many of his other poems.
The rejection of classical European poetic structures, however, is rooted in the contemporary debate among African American writers, who questioned whether they should engage the European tradition or reject it. While there was never a clear consensus, Hughes very much rejected traditional form, preferring free verse and formal experimentation.
By Langston Hughes
Children’s Rhymes
Children’s Rhymes
Langston Hughes
Cora Unashamed
Cora Unashamed
Langston Hughes
Dreams
Dreams
Langston Hughes
Harlem
Harlem
Langston Hughes
I look at the world
I look at the world
Langston Hughes
I, Too
I, Too
Langston Hughes
Let America Be America Again
Let America Be America Again
Langston Hughes
Me and the Mule
Me and the Mule
Langston Hughes
Mother to Son
Mother to Son
Langston Hughes
Mulatto
Mulatto
Langston Hughes
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston
Not Without Laughter
Not Without Laughter
Langston Hughes
Slave on the Block
Slave on the Block
Langston Hughes
Thank You, M'am
Thank You, M'am
Langston Hughes
The Big Sea
The Big Sea
Langston Hughes
Theme for English B
Theme for English B
Langston Hughes
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
Langston Hughes
The Ways of White Folks
The Ways of White Folks
Langston Hughes
The Weary Blues
The Weary Blues
Langston Hughes
Tired
Tired
Langston Hughes