Langston Hughes Poems

17 Popular Langston Hughes Poems! Most Popular Poems of Langston Hughes

Born James Mercer Langston Hughes in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902, became a leader of the Harlem Renaissance for his novels, plays, prose and, above all, the lyrical realism of his poetry. He enrolled at Columbia University in New York City in 1921 and became a leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance movement. There, we collect Langston Hughes Poems.

In a 1926 story for The Nation, Langston Hughes wrote, “An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.” And throughout his career, he crafted his words with that exact essence.

Though he dropped out of college and spent time in Africa, Spain, Paris, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, much of his work focused on Harlem. Poemhunter.com collects the Langston Hughes poems and its stories.

Hughes is best known for his poetry, particularly his use of lyrical patterns, but he also produced works in other genres, including novels like 1929's Not Without Laughter, collections of short stories like The Ways of White Folks from 1934, an autobiography called The Big Sea from the 1940s, and lyrics for the Broadway musical Street Scene. He even served as a writer for the Chicago Defender and several American newspapers as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War in 1937.

On May 22, 1967, Hughes passed away due to complications from prostate cancer, but his legacy lives on via his poetry and his focus on dreams, from which Martin Luther King Jr. is claimed to have drawn inspiration for his ideas.
 

What is one of Langston Hughes Most Famous Poem?

Probably his most notable work is the poem "Harlem," which begins, "What happens to a dream deferred?," was really intended to be part of a book-length poem called Montage of Dream Deferred.

Here are 10 of his most memorable Langston Hughes poems on Poemhunter.com :

“Dreams” (1922)

The fittingly named "Dreams," one of several Hughes poems on dreams, was first printed in World Tomorrow in 1922. "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" the eight-line poem continues to be a well-known inspiring saying.

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

...

As I Grew Older

It was a long time ago.

I have almost forgotten my dream.

But it was there then,

In front of me,

...

“Mother to Son” (1922)

"Mother to Son" was initially published in the December 1922 issue of the journal The Crisis and featured readings from famous people like King and Viola Davis. The 20-line poem uses the analogy of stairs with "tacks" and "splinters" to describe a mother's words to her kid about their challenging life path.

Well, son, I'll tell you:

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

It's had tacks in it,

And splinters,

…

April Rain Song

Let the rain kiss you

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops

Let the rain sing you a lullaby

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk

Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

...

Democracy

Democracy will not come

Today, this year

Nor ever

Through compromise and fear.

...

Cross

My old man's a white old man

And my old mother's black.

If ever I cursed my white old man

I take my curses back.

...

“I, Too, Sing America” (1945)

Hughes' poem "I, Too," which is often known as just "I, Too," directly confronts segregation.

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

...

Suicide's Note

The calm,

Cool face of the river

Asked me for a kiss.

...

The Negro Mother

Children, I come back today

To tell you a story of the long dark way

That I had to climb, that I had to know

In order that the race might live and grow.

The other important poems of Langston Hughes

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1921)

“The Weary Blues” (1925)

“Po’ Boy Blues” (1926)

“Let America Be America Again” (1936)

“Life is Fine” (1949)

“Harlem” (1951)

“Brotherly Love” (1956)