Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman - Essay ExampleHughes is famous for writing about the ordinary lives of black race from the 20s to the 60s. Hughes claimed that his writings were influenced by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, W.E.B. Du Bois, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman. On the other hand, Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in New York. Whitman worked as a printer, teacher, journalist, editor and during the war, he volunteered as a nurse in hospitals. His literary inspirations are Homer, Dante and Shakespeare. The era when Hughes became very popular was during the Harlem Renaissance (1918 to 1930) which was during the time when the Blacks were discriminated against. Being a Black himself, his themes were about hearty injustices against the Blacks and what it meant to be black, which earned him the title The Black Poet Laureate. Hughes also believed in cordialism and became a member of the Communist Party. In contrast, Whitmans epoch was during the civilian War. He witnessed the rise o f the United States as a commercial and political power. He witnessed both the peak and the abolition of slavery. This is why the themes of his poems are mainly on the ideas of democracy, equality and brotherhood (SparkNotes Editors, par.6). With regards to writing style, both Whitman and Hughes use rhythm and repetition which creates a captivating quality of in hobotation. Both of them use anaphora, which is a literary catch where several lines in a row become with the same word or phrase. In Whitman, an example of this is his poem When I Heard the Learnd Astronomer (1865), where the first four lines each begin with when, as illustrated below When I heard the learnd astronomer When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, In Hughes Let America Be America Again, the first three lines begin w ith let. Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain impertinent Whitman, Hughes poems are more pessimistic about the nature of America but at the same time he offers a call to change, as can be seen in his poem above. The themes of Whitmans works revolve around democracy as a way of life, the cycle of growth and death and the smash of the individual. On the other hand, Hughes themes are based on his personal life, his travels, his involvement in radical and protest movements, his interest in Africa and South America as well as the Caribbean. With regards to the use of language, Whitman widened the possibilities of poetic diction by including slang, colloquialisms, and regional dialects, rather than employing the stiff, erudite language so often found in nineteenth-century rhyme (SparkNotesEditors, par.2). In contrast, Hughes language style incorporates rhythmical language, jazz, blues structures, dialects and colorful verse s. Hughes poetry is best read aloud because of its cadence. Whitman and Hughes are poets who were largely influenced by the political and social issues during their times. Their works goes beyond literature, crossing the boundaries of political and social content. Both the subject matter and language contribute to its aesthetic value. This is what made their poems more memorable and considered to be among the masterpieces of world literature. Work Cited Poets.org. Guide to Langston Hughes. Poets.org. Web. 18 May 2011. http//www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/323 SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on Whitmans Poetry. SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 18 May 2011.