Hey everyone,

For in english we had to write something about a famous poet, or in other words a BIGGY as Mr. R calls it. I chose LAngston Hughes because i think his poems have a meansing and teaches people a lesson.

Here is my write up:

Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, his parents divorced soon after that and so he went to live with his grandmother. Mean while his father settled in Mexico. When he was thirteen he moved in with his mom and her new husband. After that they moved to Cleveland, Ohio. It was when Langston moved in with his mom that he started writing poetry. After graduating, he spent a year in Mexico and a year at Columbia University. During these years, he had a lot of odd jobs, like assistant cook, launderer, and a busboy. He also traveled to Africa and Europe working as a seaman. In November 1926 he published his first poetry book called “The Weary Blues. 3 years later he finished his college at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. Langston Hughes died on May 22, 1967 in New York form prostate cancer.

A poem this I really like that Langston wrote is called “Dreams” it is as following:
“Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.”

”Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.”
I like this poem because it is short and because I think it is true what he is saying about holding on to your dreams. This is because if you don’t hold on to your dreams you will never reach them either and also if you let them go you have no reason to live any more. He said this by saying “For if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird, That cannot fly” because if a birds wings break they can not fly and that it the whole purpose of them living and it is what makes them special! The only thing that I dislike about this poem is that is repeats lines. Some thing I would like to know is what he means with the last 2 lines. I don’t get them.

Some figurative language that Langston Hughes used in this poem is metaphor; he used 2, in the first stanza and in the second/last stanza. In the first he is comparing lost dreams to a birds broken wing and in the second he compares the lost dreams to a barren field frozen with snow.

This is a picture of Langston Hughes:

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