The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Vintage Classics)

Wonderfully pieced together. Provoking and inspiring.

Langston Hughes's fascinating career reads like a snapshot of the 20th century. In the 1920s as part of the Harlem Renaissance, he was among the first to bring black musical idioms into serious American verse; with the onset of the Depression he embraced Communism (sort of) as a solution to racism and social injustice; in the 1940s he threw himself into the fight against Fascism, urging African Americans to support the war as a means of defeating prejudice at home; in the 1950s he paid the price for his Soviet sympathies as McCarthy & Co. hounded his career; in the 1960s he lived to see the first stirrings of the Civil Rights movement and the more radical varieties of black activism, which he didn't entirely understand or approve of. The five decades' worth of Hughes's poetry collected here reflects all these changes, and Hughes biographer Arnold Rampersad ably edits, introduces and footnotes the poems to help show how Hughes responded to his times. I wish I liked Hughes's poetry better; despite a handful of classics like "Harlem [2]" ("what happens to a dream deferred?") and "The Weary Blues," which sound very weary indeed almost a century on, Hughes's efforts to shoehorn black speech and the complex intensities of blues and jazz into conventional free verse feel a little stodgy and irrelevant now. Maybe it's because African American culture is so widely accepted today as a vital part of American life that Hughes's poetry seems less important, though it's surely part of his legacy that we think that way. I wonder what kind of verse Hughes would be writing today in the face of hip hop and the ongoing American wrestle with racism and inner city poverty. I guess just wondering that is a measure of his importance. What makes Hughes great is that he never stopped speaking out, never stopped reacting, and against such a persistent and simple evil as racism it's probably not surprising to find large parts of his work persistent and simple too--simple in its direct, uncompromising devotion to black life as a worthy subject for poetry; persistent in its refusal to ever stop standing up against prejudice.

For those who like and admire the poetic works of Langston Hughes, this is the book to purchase. This book collects all the "known" and "published" poems written by Hughes within his lifetime and at the different stages in his life. You have the so-called "race" poems that celebrate the dignity and beauty of black Americans, you have the poems of social protest such as those written during the 1930's that deal with inequality and injustice common to all regardless of race, the poems meant for children, and you even have the trite subject matter about love lost and found and springtime, nearly all written in the style of jazz and the blues that Hughes loved so much. Congrates must go to Arnold Rampersad and David Rossel for the effort in gathering these poems in their most current rendition as Hughes last wrote them. An effort was made by the editors to put the poems in the order they were written and published. A number of the poems were meant to be accompanied by jazz and blues music or read aloud in a specific way to drive home the point of the piece. At first glance, all the poems collected in this book appear simple and straight foreward. But, Hughes was skilled at putting a lot of meaning into just a few lines of his work. An example are the poems "Cross" and "Mulatto" which tell how the mixed bloodlines of every decendent of the pure blooded African slave and European came to exist today in modern black America and how prejudice denied them the right to claim all their heritages (political correct stereotypes, labels, are doing the same today!!!). My favorite of the poems here is "Dream Variation." Carl Van Vetchen truncated some of the poem in his introduction to the the WEARY BLUES, the first book by Hughes. Langston's love for black Americans is evident throughout all his catalogue of work from essays, short stories novels, and plays as well as poetry. But this affection and the black pride he possessed did not exclude the bond of brotherhood he felt for all people regardless of race and color. This isn't to say that behind the famous smile there wasn't an angry black man. Hughes was angry at all the injustices against black Americans, but he did not let his anger consume and blind him. He bridled his anger and used it constructively, the testament of a true artist of the any people.

Langston Hughes has been called "the Shakespeare of Harlem." The quality of his poems are certainly worthy of comparison to the Bard's Sonnets. I would add one more nickname: "the Walt Whitman of Harlem." Langston Hughes, as other reviewers have stated, was also very much a poet of the people, not just African American but all Americans. Langston Hughes's poetry sheds a powerful light on the Black experience in all its complexities, from every perspective. This book is "must reading" for anyone wanting to learn more about the people and cultures of the United States, and its debt to people of African descent. Included in this masterful anthology are essays on the life of Langston Hughes and his poetry. The primary poems are divided by decades; other work is included in three appendices. The first appendix comprises poems circulated by the Associated Negro Press but were never part of the general canon. The second appendix contains poetry for children, though readers interested in this area will want to acquire a copy of Hughes's "Black Misery." The third appendix includes additional poems attributed to Langston Hughes and whos authenticity has been confirmed since the first edition of the "Collected Poems of Langston Hughes." My only complaint with this book is not with its contents but the flimsy soft cover. A more substantial cover is a necessity, for this is a book that I, like so many other people, turn to over and over again. It is easy to take for granted how much of American culture has its roots in African-American culture, especially literature and music. If you are looking for an example of this notion, you have come to the right place. Langston Hughes's poetry is steeped in Jazz rhythms and social consciousness; it is, at the same time, an assertion of black civil rights and an astute observation of black (and, by extension, American) cultural awareness. In short, it is "must reading" for anyone with an interest in any of these areas.It's a big book, certainly not something one can devour in a single sitting. Then, again, one wouldn't want to; this is a collection of poems to savor and reflect upon.

I've long been a fan of Hughes work, but was not aware of how much he had written until I got this collection. It is too bad that Hughes is often labeled as a "Harlen Renaissance" poet and then dismissed, because his poetry still holds meaning today for anyone willing to hear it. Hughes states his universal truths in an American voice, while at the same time exposing the flaws of American society (flaws which in many ways still exist today as much as they did in the 20's, 30's and 40's).This is great poetry, and I still read from it again and again. Highly recommended for anyone and everyone.

I purchased this book when I had to write an essay on the poems of Langston Hughes. I will refer to and enjoy this book forever. The poems of Langston Hughes are timeless and poignant; sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes uplifting. I firmly believe that some of his poems should be required reading for ALL Americans. If you're a fan of Hughes, add this book to your collection-- you'll have almost every poem he ever wrote at your fingertips. If you haven't been introduced to the illustrious Langston Hughes, you will not regret picking up this book.