Free Downloads The Weary Blues
Nearly ninety years after its first publication, this celebratory edition of The Weary Blues reminds us of the stunning achievement of Langston Hughes, who was just twenty-four at its first appearance. Beginning with the opening “Proem” (prologue poem)—“I am a Negro: / Black as the night is black, / Black like the depths of my Africa”—Hughes spoke directly, intimately, and powerfully of the experiences of African Americans at a time when their voices were newly being heard in our literature. As the legendary Carl Van Vechten wrote in a brief introduction to the original 1926 edition, “His cabaret songs throb with the true jazz rhythm; his sea-pieces ache with a calm, melancholy lyricism; he cries bitterly from the heart of his race . . . Always, however, his stanzas are subjective, personal,” and, he concludes, they are the expression of “an essentially sensitive and subtly illusive nature.” That illusive nature darts among these early lines and begins to reveal itself, with precocious confidence and clarity. In a new introduction to the work, the poet and editor Kevin Young suggests that Hughes from this very first moment is “celebrating, critiquing, and completing the American dream,” and that he manages to take Walt Whitman’s American “I” and write himself into it. We find here not only such classics as “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and the great twentieth-century anthem that begins “I, too, sing America,” but also the poet’s shorter lyrics and fancies, which dream just as deeply. “Bring me all of your / Heart melodies,” the young Hughes offers, “That I may wrap them / In a blue cloud-cloth / Away from the too-rough fingers / Of the world.”
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Knopf; Revised ed. edition (February 10, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385352972
ISBN-13: 978-0385352970
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 7.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #363,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #167 in Books > Literature & Fiction > African American > Poetry #1628 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > United States #45710 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States
The Langston Hughes we know and admire--and love. Most of his best loved verses are under one roof, so to speak.
One of my favorite authors. I discovered Langston Hughes in a high school lit class. Opened my eyes to other authors like Maya Angelou and Alice Walker. More importantly ushered my on my journey to be a writer. My favorite poem by Mr. Hughes is "Negro Speaks of Rivers". The Negro Speaks sit right beside "Still I Rise" by Ms. Angelou. Powerful. Get the book read it, share it...then read Maya Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, and keep reading until you have heard the voices of those who can before us and those who still walk with us.
This is a great book. It clearly describes subtle racism. It should be required reading for Americans
Lovely and moving verse. Hughes has a rare gift. I just discovered him and will be back for more.
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