Langston Hughes

(1 February 1902 – 22 May 1967 / Missouri)

poet Langston Hughes
#6 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.
    3649 person liked.
    		1606 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.
    3109 person liked.
    		1315 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.
    2438 person liked.
    		1079 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).
    2832 person liked.
    		958 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.
    616 person liked.
    		255 person did not like.
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Comments about Langston Hughes

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

    I love it so much

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  • A-leah marie perry (6/13/2018 8:38:00 AM)

    HI whhat you are in the world

    0 person liked.
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  • calvin (6/12/2018 12:45:00 PM)

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

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  • Hiiiiiiiiiii (5/29/2018 9:11:00 AM)

    Theese are really deep poems and i love this guys poems

    2 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.
    		5 person did not like.
  • Tushar (5/19/2018 1:39:00 AM)

    Poem names of Langston Hughes Names

    4 person liked.
    		6 person did not like.
  • not saying (5/17/2018 12:16:00 PM)

    you have the best poems in the world

    11 person liked.
    		4 person did not like.
  • lollololo (5/9/2018 3:53:00 PM)

    lolol hbjjhjbhjhjhgjjghjhgjgjjhgjjhg

    4 person liked.
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  • bigballs69 (5/9/2018 1:01:00 PM)

    this b big gay 8=====================D~~~~~~~~

    6 person liked.
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  • zach swistak (5/9/2018 11:27:00 AM)

    I hate poems very much, i'm a better writer then all these guys

    9 person liked.
    		20 person did not like.
Read all 132 comments »
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Best Poem of Langston Hughes

Dream Variations

To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me-
That is my dream!

To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
Till the quick day is done.
Rest at pale evening...
A tall, slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

Read the full of Dream Variations
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