thank u for the advice!!
Criticism / Langston Hughes: Connections Through Image and Sound
Langston Hughes is an author of "living work". His sound signatures and illustrated words give breath to the contextually political, romantic, distressed, and humane subject matter of his poetry. This is almost a constant in his writings and can be correlated amongst selected pieces. There are significant sound repetition similarities in "The Weary Blues," "Dream Variations," and "Song for a Dark Girl". These similarities have to do with sound tone, sound structure, and image in relation to sound resonance. What follows is an analysis of sound, repetition, and image relation between these three Langston Hughes poems.
"The Weary Blues" is a great example of the repetition in sound Hughes uses to make his words more emphatic. His repetition seems to pulse what he or his persona is emoting amongst the words and rhyme. "He did a lazy sway… He did a lazy sway…" are lines that construct notions of the piano player described in them, rocking back and forth slowly and smoothly, as he taps the keys to his melancholic melody. "Ain't got nobody in all this world, Ain't got nobody but ma self…" is the beginning of a poem within a poem which would be the piano player's story. In the stanza that follows the repetition within the lyrical content and the repeated onomatopoeia of "Thump, thump, thump…" brings about illustrious character within the piece and in doing so give life to the words grouped together by Hughes.
Though the stanza structure to "Dream variations" is quite blatant, we continue to see repetition. It's easy to see the repetitiveness within the lines of the poem with imagery to help emphasize and extend the life of the piece's central ideas and feelings. The first stanza's "To fling my arms wide…" is repeated verbatim in the second stanza's opening line. If we see the second line of the first stanza ("In some place of the sun,") and compare it to the second line of the second stanza, ("In the face of the sun,") we are left with a taste or hint of repetition because of the smooth connection in rhyme and relative subject matter. Now the words have changed from the first stanza to the second but the tone remains syncopated; the repetition is auditory.
The first stanza in "Dream variations" could be comparable to a preconceived notion of existence. However, the second has tones that are connotative to an immediate notion of life or reflection on an execution of such an instance. This could be perhaps even a prediction of life's cessation. Either way Hughes initiates repetition cleverly here. He uses this as a tool to provoke and intrigue the senses of the reader and provide living work as a result. Now, we start to notice the connections in the first poem and the second one.
The third and final poem by Langston Hughes, "Song for a Dark Girl," is concise and brilliant as an example of workmanship. It is a deep understanding of the duality of real, raw human events and sorrowful affectations. Repetition is rigid here, unlike the first two poems discussed which reside of the fringes of the realm of core repetitiveness. IN the first lines of each of this poem's three stanzas there forms a resonating flow in sound. "Way Down South in Dixie," not only gives a setting to the poem but it also establishes a time period. This seems to be a callous and mocking tone at first glimpse due to the capitalization. Later in the first stanza, we come to understand that the mockery and rough delivery is a vindication of a jaded, distraught, and heartbroken perspective; i.e. the desiccated lover. This line is certainly repeated to emphasize all these different feelings and captures them quite well.
Sound also shows the lover's remorse in the second line of the first and third stanza which is, "(Break the heart of me)". This line reminded me of, "To fling my arms wide," from "Dream Variations." I feel that the meaning was figurative but the repetition is what creates the image wholly and in that is comparable to "(Break the heart of me)". "(Break the heart of me)" has almost a Poe-like quality. Its construct flows similarly to demonstrate a lover's devastative gloom and torment. Without exhausting the point, the repetition in "The Weary Blues," where it reads "He did a lazy sway…He did a lazy sway…," is less abrasive than the other two lines from the other two poems which are being repeated to emphasize deep and blunt emotions. Still, the repetition in this instance is used to promote the image of the rocking piano man and in doing comes full circle in it's relation to Hughes and his rhythmic method of repetition. This technique was a platform for the message he was attempting to create and instill in his readers.
Hughes's mastery was giving life to his work and lies, in part, in his ability to use sound as a knell to the image he is producing in his poems. This was paired with a definitive, signature tone and almost verbally "liquid" word portrayal. The three poems contain an almost grief-like angst. The bitter-sweet passage of time displayed in "Dream Variations," the bluesy metronomic rhythm of "The Weary Blues," and the decimated, empty tone of "Song for a Dark Girl," are instilled with a theme of dissension and a "final" or perpetuated unrest. This is brought on in all three by sound structures signature to Langston Hughes.
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marebarr reviewed Version 1 -
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Apatheticwriter13 reviewed Version 1 -
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dragonbite reviewed Version 1 -
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I wish I could edit this piece with you. It is too difficult on this website. A few clues that you need to keep in mind when doing criticism. Never use “I” in a critique, and always use present tense verbage when doing critiques. An example would be when you write a sentence talking about Hughs, Hughes WAS talking about so and so…you should write Hughs IS talking about so and so. Also avoid saying what you think without backing it up with evidence from the text and interpratating it. Make sure you cite your sources even if it is public domain, this will give your paper credibility( i know its URBIS so it is hard to do.) I found the topic interesting and I hope to see progress on your work. Hughs provided an astounding amount of work. Good Job so far and keep writing.
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snarfus reviewed Version 1 -
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Very interesting. I just read a lot of Hughes in one of my classes this past semester, so I found this very insightful. Two things, though….
1) Perhaps a brief biography of Hughes at the beginning. While you and I know who he is, not everyone will.
2) When you describe the one line “(Break the heart of me)” as being Poe-like, perhaps you can give one or two examples to reinforce this, and compare the general tones of what Hughes is trying to accomplish in contrast to what Poe is trying to accomplish by this technique.
Matthewtuckey reviewed Version 1 -
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“Poe-like quality” Here you assume we are familiar with the works of Edgar Allen Poe. If you expect your readers will be, that’s fine.
Other than that, this is a clear, concise essay showing a firm grasp of the English language- not just in your ability to write but your understanding of poetry, structure and literary devices.
If this is for academic purposes I’m sure you’ll get a high grade. Sorry I can’t criticise more.
oknapp reviewed Version 1 -
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I have dabbled a little in hughes, thank goodness and i undersand what you are saying. He was a bit of a king in the harlem renassiance. My favortie is “Dear Lovely Death”. Our class studied that last year. You have a wonderful understanding of Hughes. You have done a fine job explaining to the reader the repetitions he uses in poetry and how it is written like music which evokes emotion in the reader and gives it life. You also show readers how important timing and form is to a poem.
I do wish you had talked more about how Hughes had the quality of Poe in his work. You don’t elaborate much. What do you mean when you say (Break the Heart of Me) has Poe quality? Do you man it is dreamy or that it emphasizes something dark, foreboding,or even heartbreaking? You might add a little more information here. In whole this is smart, scholarly and most of all informative. It does my heart good to see something so well written here. Oh i liked how you did the yes but, here: “This seems to be a callous and mocking tone at first glimpse due to the …”At least you found a point or a niche in his work that you didn’t praise. All good criticism needs , no, must have the i like it , however…Sandi
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