Langston Hughes Poetry Essay

Poetry Analysis: Langston Hughes Langston Hughes is an American poet who is highly recognized as an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance, or the “New Negro Movement”, refers to a time period between late 1910s and mid 1930s when cultural, artistic, and social developments took place rapidly in Harlem, New York. As a black poet whose heyday was during the 1920s, Langston Hughes was exemplary poet of Harlem Renaissance. He wrote several distinguishable poems, such as “I Dream a World”, “I, Too” or “Democracy”. Langston Hughes is a poet who often writes in the perspective of the discriminated, uses dictions that creates inspirational mood, and frequently talks about racism of the countries. “I Dream a World” is a poem

The “Democracy” in the poem symbolize liberty and freedom of every individual. The speaker of the poem is likely to be a black or the discriminated because he/she desires to be recognized by surrounding people, “ I have as much right/ As the other fellow has/ To stand/ On my two feet/ And own the land.”. The speaker directly talks to the audience to bring up a sense of empathy. “I live here, too/ I want freedom/ Just as you” The audience, after reading the poem will re-consider the biased condition of discriminated ones. The mood of the poem is desperate because the speaker is eagered to see the freedom or the idealistic democracy in his country, “I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.”. The speaker wants the changes to happen at his current period of time, instead of “tomorrow” or “another day”. In the poem, “Democracy”, the theme, discrimination, is implied by the words like “Democracy” or “freedom”. The speaker addresses “Democracy will not come/ Today, this year”, which means that true democracy or true freedom is not established within his/her society. The speaker wants freedom, and he is discriminated by surrounding