The Great Change (Langston Hughes)

One of the most important men in the Harlem Renaissance was Langston Hughes. His identity element was formed in the neighborhood of New York City although it was said that he had much travel in his life that he base be considered as the man with no roots at all. But Langston had his heart dedicated to voicing out the experiences and the sorrow of the Afri lot American the great unwashed. During his time, he created poems, plays, and books about the minatory making real their status in the society. He was peerless of the great men who were against racism and inequality. He found direction in his life not fitting by means of writing scarcely as well as to listing to jazz and blues. He was the kind of man who would sit in a bar and listen to music and in that way he created a new direction not just in his song but in art itself. His splendor and value was seen in the way he make other blacks to reach out their longings to the society, their wanting not just to be free from ra cism but also to be seen and valued the likes of the whites. Hughes spoke of value as a man for the Blacks.The Harlem Renaissance think ofd by new ideas was emphasized by Hughes through his music and poetry. One of his famous poem was The Negro speaks of River helped him make a good start in the world of poetry and cultural ex beat.The Negro Speaks of Rivers (to W. E. B. B. DuBois)Ive cognise rivers Ive cognise rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.My soul has grown deep like the rivers.I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln wentdown to New Orleans, and Ive seen its muddy crush turnall golden in the sunset.In this poem, he gave significance to the Blacks being the builders of civilization, close tothing that should be considered in history. For a long time, p rior to the African American Cultural Movement, the black people have experienced injustice in different forms, whether at work, in school and in the community as a whole. Their existence was seen to be less(prenominal) than the white where some African American people would say that they never really existed at all. The poem speaks of the places known to every black, and it can be sight that these places all have historical significance.The persona and his comrades not only look for significance and visibility but also for domicile. The poem creates an image of longing for home where there is comfort and justice. The words lulled me to sleep be quite powerful for the readers to see what is being longed for by the persona, thats none other than tranquility within. This can be related to the home that the blacks have searched for a long time in the community of whites who dominated and received the best of what the world could offer. The poem also raises the blacks voice of conside ring them the builders of growth and civilization because they have always been there, in the past, in the present and in the future. Hughes tried to create an immortal stand of the blacks against invisibility, an element that made racism flourish.Another poem by Langston Hughes entitled Dream Deffered exposes sorrow and heavy burden in life. What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore and then run? The poem is made of questions that seem to be unending. The tone is with hopelessness. The wording used was simple, simple enough to be understood that its all about dreams of the blacks that were held long enough by time. Possibilities and ways of the process of disappearance can be seen in the poem like for example drying up from the heat of the sun which was mentioned a while ago.The line Does it stink in a bad meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupty sweet? is another question that may be related to the kind of shoemakers l ast that blacks experience. The image of a rotten meat suggests something mournful and in supportable while the latter is an image of a sweet death. It makes one wonder just how tolerable is it to just throw ones body into the river because the one who died is not really that significant and his existence is not really valued, a very uncouth scenario of the black people who are enslaved and sold to the market of the whites. But more than the question of privilege for a peaceful death is their right to have it. If they are removed of the privilege to have even a good burial or death, should the question on chances for a good fate be questioned hush?The tone for Quiet Girl can also be likened to Dream Deffered as it speaks also of grief over a status or position but the difference is that there is a glimpse of hope that can be seen in it. I would liken you to a night without stars were it not for your eyes. I would liken you to a sleep without dreams were it not for your songs. The night without stars can be seen as another hopeless case of some sort in the scene, however, it is minded(p) a sprinkle of a good chance through the eyes that was silently assumed to sparkle instead of the stars. The songs were made powerful in attaining a tranquil sleep even if there was no dream. The wonderful thing that can be derived from the poem is the sound of continuity of life despite some faulty circumstances in the lives of the black. There is the balance that is being claimed from the poem, the balance that could give meaning to the blacks existence.But if there is one particular poem that can characterize the present African Americans, with the way they react and live in the present society, that would be the poem Me and the Mule.My old mule, Hes gota grin on his face. Hes been a mule so long Hes forgotten about his race.Im like that old mule Black and dont give a damn You got to take me Like I am.A mule that is known for its good working ability for an animal not o nly works for nothing, but also works for a master. But that can be one point of the poem. It can be seen also in a positive sense in the way that there is a courage directly shown from the mule and from the persona to not care, yes, not care at all from all the discrimination that he has experienced and from what the world tells about him. The mule just like the persona shall continue to live no matter how hard it is to exist and no matter how heavy the load seems. The present though doesnt exchange the blacks past. Still, even after the Harlem Renaissance, it cant be denied that they were still despised of their rights to experience a just treatment. But right now they are already visible, yet they will still be like the mule that wont give a damn to the societys offensive thoughts. Perhaps, just like the mule, giving no damn will make them live longer, and stronger.Hughes was able to see and react on the basis of his position and his art, his love for music, poetry and plays mad e him more than a figure of the Harlem renaissance. He made himself and his race visible to the world and worth it of the great and positive changes with the way blacks are treated. to a greater extent than a poet, Langston Hughes was the big difference of the Harlem Renaissance.SourcesA Renaissance Man. April 23, 2007 Langston Hughes. April 23, 2007 Langston Hughes Biography. April 24, 2007 Langston Hughes. April 24, 2007