Langston Hughes
In comparing Langston Hughes’s poem to the poems we have read by Claude McKay so far, it is very easy to see a huge difference in not only the style of writing but the poetry’s main subject matter. In Claude McKay’s sonnets, we get a deep sense of confusion and even sometimes anger over his identity within a growing America. He seems to stick to a (mostly) perfect Shakespearian sonnet form, expressing himself and his thoughts to a confined language. It seems as though he stuck to this specific form to allow his poetry to be far-reaching and understandable by other poets of his day, namely white poets. McKay was sticking himself into a certain form while being being conflicted about his own self and racial identity. We see this in The Harlem Dancer, The Lynching, The White City, and America; McKay’s juxtaposition of his racial identity against the already set “racial identity” known in America. He always seems to be comparing his blackness to America’s whiteness, or vice versa. McKay is placing himself and his poetry within an already set paradigm, and he doesn’t seem to be breaking free of that.
Langston Hughes, on the other hand, immediately writes in no set poetic structure and without comparing his racial identity to anyone else. In his poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Hughes speaks of himself as if his own identity is the whole of African Americans. He states “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.” (line 6)
He speaks of himself as encompassing his entire race, and he is not putting his race in comparison to another race. Hughes captures the proudness and strength of his race, which would help to kick off the beginnings of the Harlem Renaissance, which was critical for African American culture. Hughes does seem to exemplify a more free way of writing, which allows him to write more openly about his identity within the black culture.
I agree completely with what you wrote here. I wrote on Langston Hughes as well and I definitely see the same differences when it comes to Hughes’s and McKay’s works. Hughes uplifts the black race by bringing in positive visuals of strength and prosperity while McKay emphasized the hidden darkness of the lives of black people and how “white” society portrayed them. Though these two have these distinct differences in their writing, I believe that they both shed light that blacks had to face many tough emotional turmoil due to slavery and how those oppressive feelings still continued after it was abolished. Furthermore, they both have creative imagery to display these emotions in their poetry such as Hughes’s “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and McKay’s “The Lynching”.
I agree with what you had to say about the use of sonnet form by McKay to reach a broader audience. That audience, as you pointed out, was predominantly white. However, I also saw his choosing of sonnet form as an attempt to point out the harsh falsities of white culture. He uses the sonnet to show the neat and beautiful conciseness of Shakespearean poetic form. He contrasts this with how there is nothing lovely or beautiful about a lynching. It is almost an attempt by McKay to show the horrors the white man can produce. When it came to Hughes, I liked how you pointed out that he was acting as the voice of all African Americans. I also found it intriguing how you pointed out how Hughes tried to combine all races into one human race. In this way, I believe you pointed out how Hughes effectively used this idea of an ancient race to unite one race as one.
Great conversation hereon Hughes and McKay. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow….