Selected Poems of Langston Hughes
A Classic Collection of Poems by a Master of American Verse
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · September 12, 1990
Langston Hughes electrified readers and launched a renaissance in Black writing in America—the poems in this collection were chosen by Hughes himself shortly before his death and represent stunning work from his entire career.
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- Who it’s for
- Hughes moves between spoken and sung language, carrying jazz and blues through poems of striking range.
- Themes
- Black American experience, Jazz and blues influence, Poverty and love
- Genres
- African American Poetry, American Poetry, Political & Protest Poetry
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Langston Hughes electrified readers and launched a renaissance in Black writing in America—the poems in this collection were chosen by Hughes himself shortly before his death and represent stunning work from his entire career. The poems Hughes wrote celebrated the experience of invisible men and women: of slaves who "rushed the boots of Washington"; of musicians on Lenox Avenue; of the poor and the lovesick; of losers in "the raffle of night."
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They conveyed that experience in a voice that blended the spoken with the sung, that turned poetic lines into the phrases of jazz and blues, and that ripped through the curtain separating high from popular culture. They spanned the range from the lyric to the polemic, ringing out "wonder and pain and terror—and the marrow of the bone of life." The collection includes "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "The Weary Blues," "Still Here," "Song for a Dark Girl," "Montage of a Dream Deferred," and "Refugee in America." It gives us a poet of extraordinary range, directness, and stylistic virtuosity.
Voice in Motion
Hughes moves between spoken and sung language, carrying jazz and blues through poems of striking range.
Come here for
- Poetic lines shaped by jazz and blues
- A voice moving from lyric tenderness to polemic
Expect
- Direct language with music in its rhythm
- Wonder, pain, and the marrow of life
Where it sits
| African American Poetry | 96% |
|---|---|
| American Poetry | 72% |
| Political & Protest Poetry | 70% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- African American Poetry
- Poetry About Death
- Place Poetry
- Authors
- Langston Hughes
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- September 12, 1990
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Black American experience · Jazz and blues influence · Poverty and love
- Reading lane
- African American Poetry