Selected Poems of Langston Hughes
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Book Overview
The poems Hughes wrote celebrated the experience of invisible men and women: of slaves who rushed the boots of Washington; of musicians on Lenox Avenue; of the poor and the lovesick; of losers in the raffle of night. They conveyed that experience in a voice that blended the spoken with the sung, that turned poetic lines into the phrases of jazz and blues, and that ripped through the curtain separating high from popular culture. They spanned the range from the lyric to the polemic, ringing out wonder and pain and terror--and the marrow of the bone of life. The collection includes The Negro Speaks of Rivers, The Weary Blues, Still Here, Song for a Dark Girl, Montage of a Dream Deferred, and Refugee in America. It gives us a poet of extraordinary range, directness, and stylistic virtuosity.
Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsGOAT (Greatest of All Time)
This is my favorite author. I grew up loving his work and realized that this was the best and greatest era for exceptional literature. It was surprising that this work which is more than 60 years old still exists in such great shape. This book was great because the author chose to select his own favorites from his huge catalogue of works. This time, I will keep this as one of my treasures. These works include many of...
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Rated 5 starsA Poet for all people!!!
The SELECTED POEMS of LANGSTON HUGHE by Langston Hughes is exactly what is implied by the title. Absent from these "selected poems" are the more radical and controversial poems written by Hughes in the 1930s. After Hughes was forced to testify before the anti-Communist committee to defend himself, he shied away from the radicalism that so entranced him and other Afro Americans who saw socialism as an better alternative to...
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Rated 5 starsHughes is Pure
I had read several Hughes poems before buying this book, but I will admit that I had no grasp on the extent of his talent. These vivid poems were chosen by Hughes personally before his death in 1967. They do so well to paint a picture of the time he lived -- of the blues, of love, of passion, of choices. He writes about faith and protest in a way that will move you. I have read all of the poems exactly as they are placed...
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Rated 5 starsHe, too, sang America
"Selected Poems of Langston Hughes" is a rich selection from several decades of this poet's work. Hughes (1902-1967) is a poet of many moods and voices. His work is at times mournful, humorous, sensuous, or ironic. Many poems capture the rhythms of African-American vernacular speech. A number of narrative poems tell stories of Black life, and a number of his best poems feature female speakers. He also writes poems of social...
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Rated 5 starsDreams Deferred
Langston Hughes wrote poetry of exquisite pain and beauty throughout his life. His poetry can be sparse and rhythmic. It evinces visions of cities, the south, churches and deep muddy rivers.Hughes touches on every subject important to life in 20th century America: family, friends, race, religion,love, music, prejudice and poverty. Each poem sparingly provides an image in words. Together these poems represent the great work...
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Selected Poems of Langston Hughes Mentions in Our Blog
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Langston Hughes described the experience of the Harlem Renaissance as "…to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame." It was a movement of the senses, steps quickened to the sound of Jazz and Blues, the air was redolent of food reminiscent of Carolina and the Caribbean, the mind was stimulated by new ideas, and the energy was like an electric current to a wire.
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