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More than the exiled Eliott, greater than Walt Whitman, consistently clearer than Ginsberg, more powerful than Pound, freer than Frost, more American than Wallace Stevens, moreso even than the mighty Merton, here at long last is our greatest American poet receiving over-due respect.
A thick tome I purchased for my English learners which will instead fill my bed and my head for many cold and lonesome months ahead. Like the collected Poe, the collected Giovanni, an essential element to any American literature shelf, here for the first time meticulously researched and reported, with promise for more should any further works emerge. This is our American voice, clear and strong. This is the consummate volume of this great American poet, the one who wrote:
"( . . .) I've known rivers, ancient dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers."
May we once more grow deep with him, and by him. Read him, once more, here, complete and correct. Read him, and recall our America. Read him.
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I prefer his earlier stuff but there are poems in this book that make the entire thing worth it. Nude Young Dancer, Minstrel Song and countless others made me want to weep and smile. What can I say, I felt this guys pain...
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If you haven't heard of Langston Hughes, I suggest that you purchase this, THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES, as an introduction to his style. Hughes was part of the definitive Harlem Renaissance Movement of the 1920s through the late 1940s, that was a very important period of time for African-Americans in the United States. For the first time, their voices were really being heard [and recognized] in the genres of music, writing, and sculpture, in this country.
This book is an amazing collection of five decades of his most powerful, intelligent and sensitive works. The poems start in 1921 through 1967. There are also several poems, written for children, that I didn't even realize Langston had penned! So beautiful and unexpected. What's more, one of his most well-known poems is featured, here, "What Happens to a Dream Deferred." Langston Hughes' views of race, society and social issues are truly timeless and compelling. For me, reading his works is like listening to a quiet, constant patter of rain on the rooftop, gradually growing with intensity, until the raindrops start flowing like teardrops from the great sky. That is how Hughes uses language. Essentially, he derives his beautiful rhythmic poetic language from an infinite river of words, he then pours them over on another and tells stories. This is truly the book to add to your poetry collection.
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I picked this up the other day because I had money to burn on a gift card and I was curious. I have always loved his (most anthologized) poem, "Harlem", otherwise referred to as "A Dream Deferred". In his writing, he clearly expresses the sturggles of African Americans in the first half of the Twentieth Century in America. He reminds us of the many valuable contributions of African Americans to our society and culture. He reminds us of veterans who fought for freedoms that would never be extended to them. He writes of a noble and courageous people.
There may be a smattering of bitterness here and there, but his primary message seems to be peace and love of humankind. Equally powerful as his message, is the poetry itself. It gives the illusion of simplicity and begs to be read aloud. Some of it is breathtaking, none of it is boring or insignificant. If you like poetry at all, Hughes is extremely accessible most of the time. His words will help restore one's faith in humanity. This book demonstrates the importance and relevance of poetry in its ability to communicate matters of the heart and soul. This may be the best book of poetry I own I have found it to be highly inspiraitonal. Just get this book, okay?
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These collected poems of Langston Hughes paint a full-bodied portrait of that amazing artist. From his simple, blues-inspired, folk refrains to his epic poems on African, American, and African-American identity, Hughes defies simple categorization.
This book is required reading for anyone who loves America, hip-hop or poetry. Because it's so readable, you can keep going back time and time again.
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