Langston Hughes's poems were very refreshing to read after Cullen. His poems were more straight forward. It's ironic that they were written during the same time period.
I enjoyed Hughes poem "Negro." It reminded me of McKay's poem, and how he talked about Africa.
I enjoyed it because as you disect it the first line is talking about the past in a different part of the country, while the second like in about the present United States. One of the strongest lines in the poem is "I've been a Victim: The Belgians cut off my hands in the congo. They lynch me still in the Mississippi." I think this is a great portrayal of race relations in the present time. That they used to cut off his hands, but now they are just lynching them, and also is is depending on area's of the region. Belgium and the southern United States.
I also like the poem "A Song to a Negro Wash-woman." I thought that this piece of writing can be related to a lot of our other readings. I think that you could relate this to Cullen's poems, or even Toomer's Cane. I think that Hughes uses a lot of describing nature words. He uses words like white and spring to sybolize purity. Also you could relate it to Jonson's article on Harlem. He spoke about how men and women who were just poor begger wash women were now being able to afford houses.
I liked the lines
"Yes, I know you wash-woman. I know how you send your children to school, high school, and even college.I know how you work and help your man when times are hard. I know how you build your house up from the wash tuband call it home. and how you raise your chuches from the white suds for the service of the Holy God.
I think this section proved inspiration for women. During the same time that the civil rights movement was popular so was the woman's rights movement. The line above shows Hughes support towards women. This was another popular cause that harlem renissance writers would also support.
I enjoy reading Hughes, however, sometimes he can be tricky to read because he is so straight forward.
7 comments:
"Negro Wash Woman" is epic. It's like he's just looking at this one individual and somehow finding the power to draw out her entire life story in one sitting by relating to her.
Hughes really does seem to appreciate the sacrifices the working class washer woman makes for her family. Considering he has obvious class distinctions in his article referring to Cullen, it makes me wonder if he came from a more working class background. More generally however, I think he’s saying he identifies with the laborers, perhaps unlike other more wealthy writers, and wants to write about it because it’s a subject not often touched. Could you see Cullen writing about a washer woman?
"Wash Woman," I agree, was a great poem to read. I think Hughes does an amazing job of introducing readers to struggles and hard work of washer women. I'm trying to figure out just HOW Hughes so effectively gets inside the minds of women...because this isn't the only poem where he does this type of detailed character description. I'm curious to know what kind of female influences Hughes had in his life that led him to this knowledge.
I agree with you. I find Hughes hard to uderstand too and I think it's beause we think there is more to it after reading authors like Toomer and Cullen.
I also like the poem negro wash woman. I like this poem because as reading I felt as though I could know this woman. She could be anyone on the street or someone I see everyday. I think Hughes wanted to portray her in this light htat she is every working woman.
I agree that this is a powerful poem for women. It portrays a strong woman taking car of her family and her race. Life may not be easy for her, but she does what she needs to in order to provide a good life for her family. I notice in Hughes' poems that he has a sense of admiration for the woman and that he is trying to share that with the readers. He is drawing attention to all that she does.
I liked the peom washwomen to because it is a positive message to women. This peom definitly can be inspirational to women at this time. The women in this poem was represented as a strong women even though all she was looked at by the white people as a wash women, she was looked the opposite from the african american as strong provider to the family and maybe symbolized as back bone of african american people. This a positive image for all women to look at.
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