Poets - Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902 and passed away on May 22, 1967. He was a prolific writer. Hughes, like many black writers and artists of his time, was drawn to the promise of Communism as an alternative to a segregated America.

Although he was hated by many whites, he continued with his poems trying to make rights for the black. This shows how determined he is to change the social status of blacks.

Many of his lesser-known political writings have been collected in two volumes published by the University of Missouri Press and reflect his attraction to Communism. An example is the poem "A New Song": In the forty-odd years between his first book in 1926 and his death in 1967, he devoted his life to writing and lecturing. He wrote sixteen books of poems, two novels, three collections of short stories, four volumes of "editorial" and "documentary" fiction, twenty plays, children's poetry, musicals and operas, three autobiographies, a dozen radio and television scripts and dozens of magazine articles. In addition, he edited seven anthologies. The long and distinguished list of Hughes' works includes: Not Without Laughter (1930); The Big Sea (1940); I Wonder As I Wander" (1956).

Poems that he wrote:

1) I, Too, Sing America
I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

2)A New Song

I speak in the name of the black millions

Awakening to action.

Let all others keep silent a moment

I have this word to bring,

This thing to say,

This song to sing:

Bitter was the day

When I bowed my back

Beneath the slaver's whip.

That day is past.

Bitter was the day

When I saw my children unschooled,

My young men without a voice in the world,

My women taken as the body-toys

Of a thieving people.

That day is past.

Bitter was the day, I say,

When the lyncher's rope

Hung about my neck,

And the fire scorched my feet,

And the oppressors had no pity,

And only in the sorrow songs

Relief was found.

That day is past.

I know full well now

Only my own hands,

Dark as the earth,

Can make my earth-dark body free.

O thieves, exploiters, killers,

No longer shall you say

With arrogant eyes and scornful lips:

"You are my servant,

Black man-

I, the free!"

That day is past-

For now,

In many mouths-

Dark mouths where red tongues burn

And white teeth gleam-

New words are formed,

Bitter

With the past

But sweet

With the dream.

Tense,

Unyielding,

Strong and sure,

They sweep the earth-

Revolt! Arise!

The Black

And White World

Shall be one!

The Worker's World!

The past is done!

A new dream flames

Against the

Sun!

3)Let America be America Again

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

Sources: http://www.poemhunter.com/, en.wikipedia.org

Poem - A girl

How are the figurative language used in the poem?

This poem uses personification, metaphor, simile and symbolism.

1)Personification-
The tree has entered my hands,
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown in my breast-
Downwards,

2)Simile-
The branches grow out of me, like arms.

3)Metaphor-
Trees you are,
Moss you are,
You are the wind above them.

4)Symbolism-
The tree and the sap uses symbolism.

Tell us why you like this poem in less than 100 words.

This poem uses lots of figurative language and uses it in almost every sentence. This allows the reader to have the feeling what the author wants to put across to the readers. It talks about the person has not grown up yet and the author has put the message across quite well. I also like this poem as it compares between a person and a tree.

Poem - A Girl

The tree has entered my hands,
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown my breast-
Downwards,
The branches grow out of me, like arms.

Trees you are,
Moss you are,
You are violets with wind above them.
A child - so high - you are,
And all this is folly to the world.

Is progress necessarily beneficial for society?

No, I do not think that progress is necessarily beneficial for society.
Let me state why.

1)Having progress means higher standards of living. There will be better quality food and higher income and people will enjoy the luxury they have. As the society becomes more competitive, people would not be able to cope with the hardship and thus, they will not be able to keep up with the high tempo of living. With the higher tempo of living, there will be a lack of human relationship. Thus, people will become more self-centered and boastful.
2)Progress also means more factories. This would harm the environment and also the society. This would also lead to global warming.
3)In the novel Village by the Sea, building factories is a benefit for the government in Bombay. However, the villagers in Thul disagree. They are afraid that they would lose their job such as fishing and even finding a job in the factories would be difficult. Thus, they would need to move to other places as the rich move in.

Who is your favourite/least favourite character in Village by the Sea?

My favourite character would be Hari. Let me state my reasons.

Hari
1)He is the protagonist of this novel and I find him very hardworking. He is able to cope with the stress and burden being put on him as he has to take up the role of the 'father' after his father became a drunkard.
2)Having to take up the role as the 'father', he dropped out of school. He tries to make ends meet and perseveres. He even leaves his home and village just to find a job in Bombay. He always tries his best to relieve the financial crisis his family and I admire his perseverance.
3)He juggles between two jobs. One as a helper at a restaurant and one as a helper at a watch mending shop. At the watch mending shop, the owner teaches him how the mend a watch and he is willing to learn. This shows that Hari is keen to learn something and help relieve the financial crisis his family is facing.

Which part of Village by the Sea do you like best?

I like the part where Hari goes back to his home in Thul, which is after Coconut Day, as this part shows that the family is no longer dysfunctional.
Let me state my reasons.

Hari
1)He has found a stable job and has earned quite some money, relieving the financial problem his family is having. He learnt a new skill, which is watch mending, and he wants to set up a shop back in Thul. He gained lots of experienced and he has grown to be a mature person.
2) He also expressed his wish of going back to Thul and this shows that the family is re-uniting again.

Lila
1)Although having to cope alone without his brother, she still managers to earn some money by working for a birdwatcher. This shows that she is independent and does not need to rely on his brother all the time.

Mother
1)She is recovering from her illness and is not as weak as before. This shows that she can take the role as the mother again and Lila does not need to be the 'mother' of the family anymore.

Father
1)He is no longer a drunkard and has turned over a new leaf. He also had taken up the responsiblity of a father by taking care of his wife. This gives us a hint that he would find a job and relieve this family of their current financial crisis.

I rather be the city rat than the country rat

I am neutral with this statement as sometimes being a country rat might be better than a city rat. Thus, I am neutral.

Firstly, let me state why being a city rat is no better than being a country rat.
1)Will have too much luxury
People living in cities don't have to go through the same hardship as those people living in a country. Thus, they would not know the true meaning of hardship as they are living in luxury. For example, when they have some difficuties in live, they would not know how to cope and adapt to their new life.
2)Lack of human relationships
People living in cities have a hgh tempo of living. Thus, they would not have time to have a good talk with each other and this has resulted in them becoming self-centered and boastful. However, in a country, the tempo of life is low. Thus, they would have a strong relationship with one another and this has made them more selfless, kind and helpful.

Next, let me stand my point that countryside life is no better than city life.
1)Lack of technology
People living in countryside are less developed than those who live in cities. They would be without our daily essentials like the internet. Most of us would dread the thought of not having an internet. Internet had become the dominant part of lifes. For example, in a future school that uses the internet to inform students of important messages or events. Thus, technology is very useful for informing one another.
2)Lack of resources
People living in countrysides don't have an easy or no access to resources like food. They would have to hunt for food and sometimes, they would have none. Thus, this will lead to malnutrition and food poisoning as they might not cook the food thouroughly. Medical care is also inadequate and thus result in a low life expectancy.
3)Lack of communication
There are no advanced technologies like the internet and even newspapers. Thus, if there is an important meassage to be passed on to everyone in the village, it would take a long time and some of them would not be even notified.

In conclusion, I am neutral with the statement. Feel free to comment.

Tests results

My term 3 tests results are out. I got a msg of 1.67 and I am very pleased with it. I am also tied with 2 others dor third in my class. I got A2 for english, A2 for chinese, A1 for maths, A1 for science, A1 for infocomm studies and B3 for humanities.
I will thrive to get better results the next term and I hope to get a good grades especially in integrated humanities. I did not do so well because I did last minute work and did not bother to go through the notes given by my teachers carefully. I will buck up in my integrated humanities and also continue to do well in other subjects. I will do everything teachers ask me to do and I will read up a few weeks before exams so as to be prepared for exams.