A poet, a playwright, an activist, an artist, and one of the great leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes changed the course of history. His artful words portrayed the lives of working-class blacks in their quest for happiness and the American Dream. Tones of sadness, joy, triumph, and love were all tightly laced through Hughes’ works. Even jazz poetry was a style that he coined during the 20s. This rhythmic style soon became a beautiful collision of art.
Dubbed the “Poet Laureate of Harlem,” his original brownstone on 127th Street in Harlem still stands tall and rich with history. It’s the home of where he produced some of his greatest literary and musical works. In honor of a great artist and Black History Month, here are ten quotes from Langston Hughes.
1. I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.
2. Oh, God of Dust and Rainbows,
Help us to see
That without the dust the rainbow
Would not be.
3. So since I’m still here livin’,
I guess I will live on.
I could’ve died for love—
But for livin’ I was born.
4. I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
5. Yet the ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond-jade, Are only silly puppet gods That people themselves Have made.
6. An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose
7. Believing everything she read
In the daily news,
(No in-between to choose)
She thought that only
One side won,
Not that BOTH
8. When a man starts out to build a world,
He starts first with himself
9. Most musicians remain poor. But the music that they make, even if it does not bring them millions, gives millions of people happiness.
10. I’ve been scared and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me, Looks like between ’em they done Tried to make me Stop laughin’, stop lovin’, stop livin’– But I don’t care! I’m still here!
“Because I Could Not Stop For Death” is grim, elegant, and rhythmic. It’s a perfect example of Dickinson’s style. The fact that this poem was published only after Dickinson died is, unfortunately, also typical of Dickinson. She published just eight of her poems during her lifetime, and only became famous after she passed away.
Sylvia Plath is one of the most iconic and tragic figures in the history of literature. Her poetry has a sort of desperate quality that gives it the same power as her famous novel The Bell Jar. In “Daddy,” the speaker inspects her relationship with her father, and everything that it connects to.
Dylan Thomas’ most famous poem is a masterpiece. The poem has inspired everything from songs and stories to works of art. It’s also perhaps the most famous example of a villanelle, a poetic form that requires 19 repeating lines.
Hughes, a key figure in the Harlem renaissance, writes here about the neighborhood where it all happened. “What happens to a dream deferred?” Hughes asks. His poem’s suggested answers consider misery and, ultimately, spectacular hope.
Shelley’s most famous sonnet reflects on the fleeting nature of power. The poet describes a ruined monument to Ozymandius (the Greek name for Pharaoh Ramesses II). “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” the inscription reads, though there is nothing left to see.
Whitman’s famous works often touch on the America of his time, including the brutal realities of life during the Civil War. “Song of Myself” is no exception, but it also includes deeply personal thoughts. “Song of Myself” was published in Whitman’s famous Leaves of Grass.
Just about any of Shakespeare’s sonnets could hold their own on this list – after all, he did Shakespearian sonnets so well that he lent his name to the form. We’ve chosen one of his most famous. You can find all of Shakespeare’s sonnets online, so if you disagree with our selection, just link to your suggestion in the comments section!
Angelou’s inspirational “Still I Rise” is a testament to overcoming history and discrimination. “Out of the huts of history’s shame / I rise,” Angelou writes, capturing both the degradation of slavery and the unconquered spirit of blacks in America. With race relations front and center in American culture once again, there’s no better time to read this poem.
Ireland’s most famous poet is worthy of the year-long celebration that his nation is giving him this year. Here, he draws a figure from Irish mythology and gives him the poetic treatment. Yeats’ elevates the Irish source material by using it as inspiration, just as other poets used stories from Greek and Roman source in their own work.