Harlem Renaissance Poem Analysis Paper

Lee-Michael Torcedo Prof. Quiroz English 1302 October 22, 2012 Dreams After the well-mannered war, African Americans obtained their freedom. Still despised by many white Americans, African Americans continued to fight for justice. round the early 1900s the Harlem conversion began across the nation they fought for their culture and expressed it through art, music, dance, and literature. One of the biggest label in the Harlem Renaissance is Langston Hughes (Harlem). The poems he wrote better expressed the feelings of the many African Americans during this era.Langston Hughes published his poem, As I Grew Older, which apologizes the hassle many African Americans had with following their romances during this time. On February 1, 1902, Carrie M. Langston and James N. Hughes gave birth to, arguably, the near famous Harlem Renaissance literary poet, Langston Hughes. He grew up attending school in Kansas and Illinois, and graduated from High School in Ohio where he began writing his poetry. Later, Hughes went on to college, but stopped shortly after.He took many jobs in New York and a job working on a freighter that took him across the Atlantic Ocean to African, Spain, and France. He returned to capital of the United States D. C. to live with his m otherwise with hopes of returning to college. He had trouble making enough money and didnt go back to college until a year later where he graduated from Lincoln University in 1929. After college, he began publishing his works and started to become famous. On May 22, 1967, Langston Hughes died of cancer in New York (Langston). Langston Hughes legend let off lives to this day, and his poems are often mentioned in literature.In his poem As I Grew Older, published in 1925, he begins by saying It was a long time ago/ I have almost forgotten my imagine/ But it was there then/ In front of me/ Bright wish well a sun/ My dream (1-4). Whether or not Langston Hughes wrote this about himself or not, it can go either way on wh o could be mentioning this and who is reflecting on the past that was a long time ago. Hughes gave the perspective that the main persona is talk of the town about his past and about how even though his dream was right in front of him, he could not grasp it.In the early ages of Langston Hughes life, many obstacles barricaded him from reaching his dreams and goals, losing sights of what he really wanted. He negotiation about a wall in the poem that rises slowly between him and this dream. It rose until it touched the leaf (11). The wall symbolizes his obstacles or what blocked him from his dreams. The wall rising until it touched the sky showed the degree and emphasis of the difficulty for Hughes to see his dreams. On line thirteen he mentions the shadow that the wall covered him in. There was no more light to be seen.All hope seemed to be lost until he breaks down the wall, shatters the darkness, and smashes the night. At the other side of this wall, is light, the sun, and his drea m. Langston Hughes must have at one point in following his dream snarl so overwhelmed with everything in his way and just lie down in the shadow (15). Just like in his poem, he takes down that wall and does not let it get in his way. He is winning in reaching his dream of becoming a well-known poet even through the worst of times. His poem reflects the situation many African Americans faced during this time.Freedom is still new to most and following dreams is difficult because of prejudism. many African Americans ran into this wall and many did not break through as Langston Hughes did. Although some did, they went through the analogous difficulties as Hughes poetically explained in his poem. The beauty of this poem is the universality of it. It may have been written to explain the difficulties African Americans had, but it reflects the difficulty for anyone following their dreams should not be forgotten. They are not always well-situated to achieve, but that does not mean one sho uld give up.The poem is powerful in meaning and motivational as it speaks to anyone and illustrates that you should never surrender. Langston Hughes dream as a young boy was to be known as a poet. Much like the wall, he had to overcome many obstacles to achieve his dreams. He would vision his dream so clearly in front of him like the sun but as he got fourth-year and taller, so did this wall that blocked his way. Even though, Hughes smashed down that wall and become one of the most well-known founders of the Harlem Renaissance. Works Cited Harlem Renaissance Biography. com Biography. com. Famous Biographies & TV Shows Biography. om. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22Oct. 2012. . Hughes, Langston. As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes. PoemHunter. Com Thousands of poems and poets. Poetry Search Engine. N. p. , 3Jan. 2003. Web. 22Oct. 2012. . Langston Hughes Biography life, children, parents, name, story, history, school, mother, book, information, born, college. Encyclopedia of World Biography . N. p. , n. d. Web. 22Oct. 2012. .