"Winter Moon"
"Winter Sweetness"
"April Rain Song"
"Fairies"
"Autumn Thought"
"Poem"
"Sea Charm"
"Sailor"
"Beggar Boy"
"Mexican Market Woman"
"Dressed Up"
"The Weary Blues"
"Minstrel Man"
"When Sue Wears Red"
"Lincoln Monument: Washington"
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Picture Blog
I've always enjoyed the picture blogs I've done so far, and I thought one would be a good compliment to a book or poetry. So, I've decided to choose 15 poems from The Dream Keeper and illustrate them with a picture.
"Autumn Thought"
"Poem"
"Sea Charm"
"Sailor"
"Beggar Boy"
"Mexican Market Woman"
"Dressed Up"
"The Weary Blues"
"Minstrel Man"
"When Sue Wears Red"
"Lincoln Monument: Washington"
"Autumn Thought"
"Poem"
"Sea Charm"
"Sailor"
"Beggar Boy"
"Mexican Market Woman"
"Dressed Up"
"The Weary Blues"
"Minstrel Man"
"When Sue Wears Red"
"Lincoln Monument: Washington"
LINKS YAY
I like to think I'm in touch with me readers. And if I know my readers, the one thing they'd love to read more than anything is a linkup blog. Fun, right? I know, but don't get too excited yet. I haven't even started.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes
There's a link to my buddy, Langston's wikipedia page. You can learn all about him and his snazzy poetry from here.
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83
Here's his page on poets.org with more information about him, and also some of his poems.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
This is a good website for finding all kinds of poetry. If you get tired of reading Langston's poems, you can find poems by Bobby Frost, Billy Collins, and many others on this site.
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets_african_american.html
Here's a page listing famous black poets other than Hayes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Age
Wikipedia article about the jazz age, the movement which inspired Hughes' tone in most of his poems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance
Information about the Harlem Renaissance, in which Langston played a pivotal part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa0WNP3Zwwo
Speaking of Harlem, here's a video of U2 performing, "Angel of Harlem." This is important because one, I like U2, and 2, it's about Harlem; therefore about Langston Hughes. Yay for facts.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3b1Fiy/www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5hiVmvcCaU/
This is a really cool video rendering of the poem, "A Dream Deferred."
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1UuZPH/beinecke.library.yale.edu/langstonhughes/web.html/
I thought this was a cool little layout relating to Langston Hughes.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1c0BDU/www.dramainnature.com/quote_by_langston_hughes_.htm/
An interesting picture with one of Langston's better lines, in my opinion.
http://www.seattle.gov/parks/centers/langston.htm
The page for the beautiful Langston Hughes performing arts center.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/36HsyS/www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/top_poems.html/
Here's a list of the top 50 poems according to poemsandpoets.com. Langston got on there at number eight.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1cJJlH/www.brightmoments.com/blackhistory/
How much do you know about African American history? I bet not as much as Langston did. Take the quiz and find out!
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1lnNKE/wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-reception-planning/articles/wedding-toast-tips-30-inspiring-quotes.aspx/
There's a quote by Langston Hughes on here, and other than that, I just thought it was a neat list.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1kKap9/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyqwvC5s4n8/
And the best is saved for last. This video is perfect to relate to what I have talked about in my previous posts. I mentioned "the weary blues" before, and here it is with musical accompaniment. Great video.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes
There's a link to my buddy, Langston's wikipedia page. You can learn all about him and his snazzy poetry from here.
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83
Here's his page on poets.org with more information about him, and also some of his poems.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
This is a good website for finding all kinds of poetry. If you get tired of reading Langston's poems, you can find poems by Bobby Frost, Billy Collins, and many others on this site.
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets_african_american.html
Here's a page listing famous black poets other than Hayes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Age
Wikipedia article about the jazz age, the movement which inspired Hughes' tone in most of his poems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance
Information about the Harlem Renaissance, in which Langston played a pivotal part.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa0WNP3Zwwo
Speaking of Harlem, here's a video of U2 performing, "Angel of Harlem." This is important because one, I like U2, and 2, it's about Harlem; therefore about Langston Hughes. Yay for facts.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3b1Fiy/www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5hiVmvcCaU/
This is a really cool video rendering of the poem, "A Dream Deferred."
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1UuZPH/beinecke.library.yale.edu/langstonhughes/web.html/
I thought this was a cool little layout relating to Langston Hughes.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1c0BDU/www.dramainnature.com/quote_by_langston_hughes_.htm/
An interesting picture with one of Langston's better lines, in my opinion.
http://www.seattle.gov/parks/centers/langston.htm
The page for the beautiful Langston Hughes performing arts center.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/36HsyS/www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/top_poems.html/
Here's a list of the top 50 poems according to poemsandpoets.com. Langston got on there at number eight.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1cJJlH/www.brightmoments.com/blackhistory/
How much do you know about African American history? I bet not as much as Langston did. Take the quiz and find out!
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1lnNKE/wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-reception-planning/articles/wedding-toast-tips-30-inspiring-quotes.aspx/
There's a quote by Langston Hughes on here, and other than that, I just thought it was a neat list.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1kKap9/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyqwvC5s4n8/
And the best is saved for last. This video is perfect to relate to what I have talked about in my previous posts. I mentioned "the weary blues" before, and here it is with musical accompaniment. Great video.
More Elements of Poetry
In my previous post, I concluded that Langston Hughes scores well on the subject of rhythm. However, that's only a small element of good poetry. I read a little about elements of poetry, and in summarized form, it can be put into the external form and the internal form. The external form being how it sounds and how it looks, and the internal form being other elements like story, personification, simile; basically giving the poem some sort of deeper meaning. From what I've looked at of Hughes, he was quite good at the external part of the poem, but that seems to have been his focus. Sometimes he tells a decent story, but on the deeper parts of internal poetry, at least in my experience, he tends to come up short.
One of many examples would be, "Homesick Blues," one of Hughes' rhythmic poems:
De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
Ever time de trains pass
I wants to go somewhere.
I went down to de station.
Ma heart was in ma mouth.
Went down to de station.
Heart was in ma mouth.
Lookin' for a box car
To roll me to de South.
Homesick blues, Lawd,
'S a terrible thing to have.
Homesick blues is
A terrible thing to have.
To keep from cryin'
I opens ma mouth an' laughs.
It looks and sounds good, and even tells a decent narrative, but that's about it. Where's the symbolism, metaphor, ambiguity? Although I'm definitely not a poetry aficionado, that's what I tend to look for. Lyrics that make me think or feel something. That being said, I think a good way to compare these poems is to look at songwriters in comparison to Hughes. Obviously as song has to have rhythm, but songwriters also include a lot of the internal elements that really make the lyrics interesting.
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I'll use a song written by John Lennon, "In My Life," as an example:
The link is: <embed src="http://www.4shared.com/embed/108005281/7bf564f6" width="420" height="250" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>
And the lyrics go:
There are places I'll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I've loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life, I'll love you more
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life, I'll love you more
Now, the lyrics sound good and have a definitive rhythm, but he's also saying a lot. There's a lot of other songs and songwriters I could have used, such as Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, or obviously, Bob Dylan, but I'm blogging about poetry, and not my musical interests. Anyway, in comparison to some of the lyrics written by those guys, as well as others, it doesn't really seem like Hughes is saying anything. I guess what I'm saying is that you can focus on sounding good and still say something important, which I think Hughes should have done more often.
One of many examples would be, "Homesick Blues," one of Hughes' rhythmic poems:
De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
De railroad bridge's
A sad song in de air.
Ever time de trains pass
I wants to go somewhere.
I went down to de station.
Ma heart was in ma mouth.
Went down to de station.
Heart was in ma mouth.
Lookin' for a box car
To roll me to de South.
Homesick blues, Lawd,
'S a terrible thing to have.
Homesick blues is
A terrible thing to have.
To keep from cryin'
I opens ma mouth an' laughs.
It looks and sounds good, and even tells a decent narrative, but that's about it. Where's the symbolism, metaphor, ambiguity? Although I'm definitely not a poetry aficionado, that's what I tend to look for. Lyrics that make me think or feel something. That being said, I think a good way to compare these poems is to look at songwriters in comparison to Hughes. Obviously as song has to have rhythm, but songwriters also include a lot of the internal elements that really make the lyrics interesting.
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, I'll use a song written by John Lennon, "In My Life," as an example:
The link is: <embed src="http://www.4shared.com/embed/108005281/7bf564f6" width="420" height="250" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>
And the lyrics go:
There are places I'll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I've loved them all
But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life, I'll love you more
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life, I'll love you more
Now, the lyrics sound good and have a definitive rhythm, but he's also saying a lot. There's a lot of other songs and songwriters I could have used, such as Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, or obviously, Bob Dylan, but I'm blogging about poetry, and not my musical interests. Anyway, in comparison to some of the lyrics written by those guys, as well as others, it doesn't really seem like Hughes is saying anything. I guess what I'm saying is that you can focus on sounding good and still say something important, which I think Hughes should have done more often.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Langston Got Dat Rhythm
One of the recurring elements of Hughes' poetry is rhythm. It's the main focus of many of his poems. They were designed to be read aloud or even sung. This is the only part about Langston Hughes' writing I actually enjoyed (other than his comically bad grammar). When reading several of his poems, I could hear the jazzy rhythm and see them easily being sung. Well, it turns out that was his intention. His poetry has a jazzy rhythm, much like the music that would have been popular at the time. This style would later become popular as jazz poetry, making Hughes the pioneer.
There are lots of musicians who I could connect with Hughes' poetry. Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Nat "King" Cole; pretty much any jazz great of the time would have inspired Hughes' poetry. Some on Hughes' jazz inspired poems include Bound No'th Blues, the Weary Blues, Song for a Banjo Dance, and Po' Boy Blues, along with countless others. Essentially, two thirds of his poems have the word blues in the title. He really should have been a songwriter, in my opinion. Anyway, those poems have a specific jazz rhythm that could be found in most popular music of the time. Below is an example.
Louis Armstrong - West End Blues<br><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.4shared.com/flash/player.swf?ver=9051" style="" id="ply" name="ply" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="false" wmode="opaque" flashvars="file=http://dc171.4shared.com/img/439801441/d2930b6a/dlink__2Fdownload_2FlhoOLO2c_3Ftsid_3D00000000-000000-00000000/preview.mp3&volume=50&" height="20" width="200"><br>Powered by <a href="http://mp3skull.com/">mp3skull.com</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://mp3skull.com/embedcl.php"></script>
In conclusion, the use of poetry with a jazz rhythm was a new development at the time Hughes was writing it. It's the main reason Hughes' poetry was noteworthy, and still is noteworthy, and out of all his poems, the rhythmic ones were the only ones I could take any enjoyment from. However, my initial opinion hasn't been changed. I don't think having good rhythm is enough to write compelling poetry. I'll go deeper into other aspects of Hughes' poetry in blogs to come. Until then, I must say, Adios!
There are lots of musicians who I could connect with Hughes' poetry. Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Nat "King" Cole; pretty much any jazz great of the time would have inspired Hughes' poetry. Some on Hughes' jazz inspired poems include Bound No'th Blues, the Weary Blues, Song for a Banjo Dance, and Po' Boy Blues, along with countless others. Essentially, two thirds of his poems have the word blues in the title. He really should have been a songwriter, in my opinion. Anyway, those poems have a specific jazz rhythm that could be found in most popular music of the time. Below is an example.
Louis Armstrong - West End Blues<br><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.4shared.com/flash/player.swf?ver=9051" style="" id="ply" name="ply" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="false" wmode="opaque" flashvars="file=http://dc171.4shared.com/img/439801441/d2930b6a/dlink__2Fdownload_2FlhoOLO2c_3Ftsid_3D00000000-000000-00000000/preview.mp3&volume=50&" height="20" width="200"><br>Powered by <a href="http://mp3skull.com/">mp3skull.com</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://mp3skull.com/embedcl.php"></script>
In conclusion, the use of poetry with a jazz rhythm was a new development at the time Hughes was writing it. It's the main reason Hughes' poetry was noteworthy, and still is noteworthy, and out of all his poems, the rhythmic ones were the only ones I could take any enjoyment from. However, my initial opinion hasn't been changed. I don't think having good rhythm is enough to write compelling poetry. I'll go deeper into other aspects of Hughes' poetry in blogs to come. Until then, I must say, Adios!
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