Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hugheswas an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth1 February 1902
CityJoplin, MO
CountryUnited States of America
poet
Hang yourself, poet, in your own words. Otherwise, you are dead.
song snow darkness
Gather quickly Out of darkness All the songs you know And throw them at the sun Before they melt Like snow.
rain kissing water
Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
morning thinking bed
I don't dare start thinking in the morning. I don't dare start thinking in the morning. If I thought thoughts in bed, Them thoughts would bust my head-- So I don't dare start thinking in the morning.
crystals splinters stairs
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair
alive way return
I stay cool, and dig all jive, That's the way I stay alive. My motto, as I live and learn, is Dig and be dug In return.
heaven-sent heaven wish
I wish the rent Was heaven sent.
beautiful rainbow scene
For poems are like rainbows; they escape you quickly.
resurrection poet graveyard
Politics can be the graveyard of the poet. And only poetry can be his resurrection.
writing worst best-poem
For my best poems were all written when I felt the worst. When I was happy, I didn't write anything.
beautiful strong brother
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America.
strong kwanzaa mountain
We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.
beautiful strong dark
We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.
night black depth
I am a Negro: Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa.