Langston Hughes

(1 February 1902 – 22 May 1967 / Missouri)

poet Langston Hughes
#7 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.
    3661 person liked.
    		1608 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.
    3126 person liked.
    		1317 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.
    2450 person liked.
    		1083 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).
    2845 person liked.
    		962 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.
    625 person liked.
    		256 person did not like.
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Comments about Langston Hughes

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  • at least five characters (10/12/2018 9:59:00 AM)

    You and your whole race
    You and your whole race.
    Look down upon the town in which you live
    And be ashamed.
    Look down upon white folks
    And upon yourselves
    And be ashamed

    0 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • ThatOneLoser (10/12/2018 9:58:00 AM)

    @SmolChild
    stop using dead memes

    0 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • SmolChild (10/12/2018 9:57:00 AM)

    haha im kidding i have so many friends xdxdxdxdxdxdxdxd get rekt

    0 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • ThatOneLoser (10/12/2018 9:57:00 AM)

    @SmolChild
    no one wants to be your friend. just stop.

    0 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • PandaBoi (10/12/2018 9:53:00 AM)

    You and your whole race
    You and your whole race.
    Look down upon the town in which you live
    And be ashamed.
    Look down upon white folks
    And upon yourselves
    And be ashamed

    Watch it, buster!

    0 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • at least five characters (10/12/2018 9:46:00 AM)

    a value for the YOUR COMMENT field.

    2 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • SmolChild (10/12/2018 9:45:00 AM)

    hey guys i have no friends pls be my friend person

    1 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • SmolChild (10/12/2018 9:45:00 AM)

    hey guys i have no friends pls be my friend

    0 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
  • SmolChild (10/12/2018 9:44:00 AM)

    hey i have no friends someone be my friend

    0 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • ThatOneLoser (10/12/2018 9:43:00 AM)

    Nice poems but watch the profanity mate.

    5 person liked.
    		2 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
Did you read them?
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