Langston Hughes

(1 February 1902 – 22 May 1967 / Missouri)

poet Langston Hughes
#9 on top 500 poets
Langston Hughes
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Langston Hughes Poems

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Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the period that "Harlem was in vogue."

Biography

Ancestry and Childhood

Both of Hughes' paternal and maternal great-grandmothers were African-American, his maternal great-grandfather was white and of Scottish descent. A paternal great-grandfather was of European Jewish descent. Hughes's maternal grandmother Mary Patterson was of African-American, French, English and Native American descent. One of... more »

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Quotations

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  • ''I was so sick last night I
    Didn't hardly know my mind.
    So sick last night I
    Didn't know my mind.
    I drunk some bad licker that
    Almost made me blind.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet. Morning After (l. 1-6). . . Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. (1959) Vintage Books.
    3653 person liked.
    		1607 person did not like.
  • ''Way Down South in Dixie
    (Break the heart of me)
    They hung my black young lover
    To a cross roads tree.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet. Song for a Dark Girl (l. 1-4). . . Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. (1959) Vintage Books.
    3115 person liked.
    		1316 person did not like.
  • ''Love is a naked shadow
    On a gnarled and naked tree.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet. Song for a Dark Girl (l. 11-12). . . Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. (1959) Vintage Books.
    2442 person liked.
    		1080 person did not like.
  • ''I swear to the Lord
    I still can't see
    Why Democracy means
    Everybody but me.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet, author. The Black Man Speaks, Jim Crow's Last Stand (1943).
    2835 person liked.
    		960 person did not like.
  • ''here
    to this college on the hill above Harlem
    I am the only colored student in my class.''
    Langston Hughes (1902-1967), U.S. poet. Theme for English B (l. 8-10). . . Selected Poems of Langston Hughes. (1959) Vintage Books.
    619 person liked.
    		255 person did not like.
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Comments about Langston Hughes

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  • Margaret (7/29/2018 7:58:00 PM)

    Do you take medcide If so do you have a office in boulder

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  • Nimesh Ghorpade (7/24/2018 6:26:00 AM)

    Very nice

    1 person liked.
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  • Asiya (7/3/2018 9:22:00 AM)

    Very nice

    2 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • muneem (7/1/2018 7:33:00 PM)

    Lakhanpur bharatpur.raj

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  • muneem (7/1/2018 7:32:00 PM)

    Gurugiram

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  • Shelly Sheilah (6/18/2018 4:56:00 PM)

    I love it so much

    1 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • A-leah marie perry (6/13/2018 8:38:00 AM)

    HI whhat you are in the world

    0 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • calvin (6/12/2018 12:45:00 PM)

    this is a good website to see very good poems from from very good poets

    0 person liked.
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  • Hiiiiiiiiiii (5/29/2018 9:11:00 AM)

    Theese are really deep poems and i love this guys poems

    3 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • James Storm (5/20/2018 11:59:00 AM)

    Zach Swistak - If you're a better writer than Langston Hughes, why did you write then instead of than?

    7 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
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Best Poem of Langston Hughes

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Read the full of Dreams
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