Review; The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
Description from Goodreads
A beautiful new edition of this beloved poet's first collection, originally published in 1926 when he was just twenty-four.From the opening "Proem" (prologue poem) he offers in this first book-"I am a Negro: / Black as night is black, / Black the depths of my Africa"-Hughes spoke directly, intimately, and powerfully of the experiences of African Americans, at a time when their voices were newly being heard in our literature. As his Knopf editor Carl Van Vechten wrote in a brief introduction to the original 1926 volume, illuminating the potential of this promising young voice, "His cabaret songs throb with the true jazz rhythm; his sea-pieces ache with a calm, melancholy lyricism; he cries bitterly from the heart of his race...Always, however, his stanzas are subjective, personal" and, he concludes, they are "the expression [of] an essentially sensitive and subtly illusive nature." That illusive nature darts among these early lines and begins to reveal itself, sometimes with shocking confidence and clarity: "Bring me all of your / Heart melodies / That I may wrap them / In a blue cloud-cloth / Away from the too-rough fingers/ Of the world."
My Thoughts on the Book
I fell in love with The Weary Blues, mainly due to Langston Hughes' writing style, which drew me in. As I majored in English while doing my BA degree, I was even more fascinated by this poetry collection, considering that Langston Hughes was part of the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1900's and this poetry collection certainly has this vibe to it.
The Weary Blues is certainly a poetry collection I would recommend people to read.
Comments
Post a Comment