Langston Hughes is a respected and esteemed African-American icon. His poetry and writing created a platform for black artists during the Harlem Renaissance, but today he is one of the few underappreciated names in modern American poetry. Despite her central role in the Harlem Renaissance, her poetry never received the respect it deserved among other poets, as many felt she dwelled too deeply on the specifics of black culture. Besides the fact that race and racism play a key role in why it is not read as often as it should, powerful critics and scholars often show little interest in black America and, therefore, his work is not celebrated as it should be. be. His blues poetry, less political and more obscure, explores his hidden personal life, an often overlooked side of Hughes. These works are excellent examples of how Hughes helped shape the modernist poetry movement. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Hughes is a rather invisible figure in modern poetry and is spoken of very little in the dialogue between modern fiction and poetry. He is usually grouped with other black writers and linked exclusively to the Harlem Renaissance. This is largely because researchers believe the work is simple and unlearned. Hughe himself even described his poetic technique as simple, saying that it should be the "epitome of simplicity". This may partly be because Hughes wanted his work to be understood by a specific audience: black America of his time. It would make no sense for him to create works related to the struggles of African Americans if they could not identify or relate to his work. He used common language and drew inspiration from the daily lives of Black Americans and the struggles they face on a daily basis. Although his work appears simple, his material is complex and layered. Unlike his more sociopolitical works, his love blues poems intimately explore the world of his hidden sexuality. Poems written between 1924 and 1930 are interesting because they are written using the voices and perspectives of both men and women. A blues poem comes from the African-American oral and musical tradition of the blues, typically exploring themes of struggle, despair, and sex. It often follows the form in which a statement is made in the first line, a variation of that same statement is given in the second line, and a satirical alternative is stated in the third line. One of his most famous poems "Subway Face" follows this form unequivocally. The first line reads “For whom I have searched”, the second line follows “For you all my life”. These two statements are related to each other. The third line states an ironic and shocking statement with "It doesn't matter to you" and the fourth line "You don't know" follows. The next stanza follows the same pattern with lines one and two being "You never knew / Neither did I" and lines three and four paradoxically stating "Now you take the Harlem train uptown / I take a place downstairs. » To the naked eye, this short poem is deceptively simple, but underneath lies true emotional despair and desolation buried in the combination of these simple words in a simple form. The voice or perspective is ambiguous and its content can be identified with any reader facing loneliness. “Poem (2)” is an overviewof his undisclosed homosexuality. It reads I loved my friend / He moved away from me / There is nothing more to say / The poem ends / Sweet as it began / I loved my friend.” The reason scholars believe this specific poem provides insight into his sexuality is because it is read from the perspective of a man loving another man and not being loved in return. Again, this poem explicitly follows the form of blues poetry, but it is more compact and has more emotional impact on the reader due to its harshness and austerity. “Subway Face” and “Poem (2)” explore the difficulties of unrequited love. The fact that Hughes was a closeted homosexual at this time also meant that his feelings could never come out, and in addition to loneliness and heartbreak, he struggled with never being able to express himself openly romantically as he wanted it. His blues poems not only gave insight into his hidden personal life, but also explored themes of blackness and black beauty. “Poem (4)” dedicated to “To the Black Beloved” loosely follows the form of blues poetry, but is nonetheless a celebration of black finesse and identity. The first stanza reads: “Ah / My black / Although you are not handsome / Yet you have it / A beauty / A surpassing beauty.” He says that even though the color of their skin is not considered beautiful, they contain a "beauty" that surpasses and transcends the physical appearance of their skin. The second stanza reads: “Oh / My black / Although you are not good / Yet you have / A purity / A surpassing goodness.” In the same way, he says that even though black people are not considered “good” by society, there is a purity and virtue within them. Finally, in the last stanza, he writes. “Ah / My black / You are not luminous / Yet an altar of jewels / An altar of shimmering jewels / Would fade in the light / Of your night”. Here he breaks the pattern of the previous two stanzas to emphasize and reiterate the symbolism of a piece of jewelry for an African American. The phrase "Though art does not shine" may allude to the constant weight of society that oppresses African Americans, preventing them from "shine" and reaching their full potential. He reminds his reader that these are jewels that evoke light and radiance despite the darkness of the skin and the oppression it brings in the line “of your night”. Langston Hughes openly admitted how much he admired and was influenced by music in his own work. At the age of eleven, he first heard the blues played by a blind orchestra in Kansas City. He described the music as having "the pulse of people who keep going." From then on, he wanted to write poetry in this style. Historically, the lyrics of most blues music are weak on their own, as the music is usually given artistic priority. Wanting to write specifically “blues” is also difficult because there is a balance between not making the written content too poeticized and less close to the lyrics. Hughes was truly the first to combine the two and allowed this style to convey the African American experience into people's vernacular. This style is just a scratch in the undeniable and incredible diversity of Hughes' poetry. His work was embraced by the black American working class who were finally able to recognize and identify with a voice in the world of literature. He was a unique writer during the Harlem Renaissance because he wrote in a way that moved away from always describing black Americans optimistically. He wrote about everyday life and ordinary people. He often had black characters in his writings who were drunk, lazy, sexual, and violent. He wrote about.