Livy+&+Blake

** Langston Hughes **
**By Livy Masuret & Blake Gilbert-Bono**



__I Dream a World__
I dream a world where man No other man will scorn, Where love will bless the earth And peace its paths adorn I dream a world where all Will know sweet freedom's way, Where greed no longer saps the soul Nor avarice blights our day. A world I dream where black or white, Whatever race you be, Will share the bounties of the earth And every man is free, Where wretchedness will hang its head And joy, like a pearl, Attends the needs of all mankind- Of such I dream, my world!

__April Rain Song__
Let the rain kiss you Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops Let the rain sing you a lullaby The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk The rain makes running pools in the gutter The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night And I love the rain.

__Mother to Son__
Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair. It’s had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare. But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, And reachin’ landin’s, And turnin’ corners, And sometimes goin’ in the dark Where there ain’t been no light. So boy, don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard. Don’t you fall now— For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’, And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

**__ I, Too __** 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.

**__Our Poems!!!__**
=**F__reedom__ **= =**__By, Blake Gilbert-Bono__ **= = America, = = It was… = = Once a land = = That fought for freedom. = = But now, = = They take that away, = = For that which they fought for = = Believed in. = = They hide this now = = From the darker brothers of America. = = Is freedom worth fighting for? = = Dying for, = = To believe in? = = For it has let me down, = = I once let freedom fill me, = = Let it embrace me. = = But it weakened its grip, = = Let me fall into darkness. = = What is freedom? = = To my brothers = = A light that shows = = Equality, justice, and fairness. = = To me you would ask, = = Is something = = That you can not = = Just gaze upon its glory. = = But to act upon it, = = This is the only way to make freedom a = = Reality. = = __**Dove**__ = = __**By Livy Masuret**__ = = Peace floats through the air = = Floats graceful like a dove = = Peace makes the sky blue = = As doves can soar above = = = = Peace fills the people = = As doves can fill the sky = = Peace can fill a heart up = = Until it besomes so light you fly. = = = = Peace can make the world smile = = Make the people love and sing = = Peace can be so graceful = = Like a dove cooing in the spring. = = = = Peace is what gives us hope = = And hope is what gives gives us love = = And love is what helps us everyday = = Like a home, a friend, a dove. =

**__About Langston Hughes !!!!!!! __**

__Style and Influences__ Langston Hughes became a poet so he could tell the stories of his people. Langston is an African American this is why he wanted to share with everyone the stories, lives, hardships, and loves of Africans. He wanted to reflect their culture in his writing to let everyone know more about where he comes from. One of his influences Paul Lawrence Dunbar inspired Langston Hughes. Paul was also an African American poet who wrote about his people which caused Langston to do the same. Other influences such as Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman had freestyle poems and poetry styles that Langston uses today as well got his interest in poetry. Many of Langston Hughes poems are based on segregation or slavery because thats what his people went through like in his poem I, Too. As well, he often talks about lifes' hardships and struggles like in his poem, Life No Crystal Stairs. As well many of his poems are free verse, but he writes a wide arrangement of poetry including sonnets and odes. He also wrote many plays and books as well. Langston Hughes is famous for breaking the rules. When Langston was writing about other blacks others thought it was usexeptible to write about blacks hardships and lives. Many said in his beginning years that his petty was awful such as. When The Pittsburgh Courier ran a big headline across the top of the page, LANGSTON HUGHES' BOOK OF POEMS TRASH. The headline in the New York Amsterdam News was LANGSTON HUGHES—THE SEWER DWELLER. As well Unlike other notable black poets of the period—Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen—Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. Other poets thought highly of his work such as Du Bose Heyward wrote in the New York Herald Tribune in 1926: "Langston Hughes, although only twenty-four years old, is already conspicuous in the group of Negro intellectuals who are dignifying Harlem with a genuine art life. . . . It is, however, as an individual poet, not as a member of a new and interesting literary group, or as a spokesman for a race that Langston Hughes must stand or fall. . . . Always intensely subjective, passionate, keenly sensitive to beauty and possessed of an unfaltering musical sense, Langston Hughes has given us a 'first book' that marks the opening of a career well worth watching." But also other poets look down on his work like I showed in the other news paper articles above.

__Personal Biography__ Langston Hughes was born on February 1 1902. He was raised in Joplin Missouri. He was raised by his grandmother until he was 13 years old. Then he went to Illinois to live with his mom. There in Lincon he began to write. He went to Lincon University and also spent a year at Columbia University. His family later settled in Cleveland Ohio. Other that being a poet, Hughes was a cook, launder and busboy. He was never married. Many people say that Langston Hughes was discovered by a famous poet named Vachel Lindsay. One day when Hughes was working as a busboy he stopped by at a hotel his mother was staying at. Vachel was dining there so Langston dropped his poetry near Vachel’s plate. Later, many people came by to hear Vachel read poetry, including some of Langston’s! Hughes has won many awards including the Harmon Gold Metal for Literature in 1931. He also won the Anisfeld-Wolfe Award for best book on racial relations in 1954. Langston Hughes wrote many books of poetry including a series of //Simple// books. Some of his //Simple// books were //Simple Speaks his Mind, Simple Takes a Claim and Simple takes a wife.// These were written in 1950, 1957 and 1953. Sadly, Langston Hughes died of cancer on May 22 1967.

Works Cited Langston Hughes and Poetry Foundation Staff. "Collection of His Poems." //Www.poetryfoundation.com//. Web. 6 Mar. 2005. .

Poet Staff. "Langston Hughes." //Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More//. Web. 10 May 2011. .

Poetry Foundation Staff. "Langston Hughes : The Poetry Foundation." //Poetry Foundation//. 10 May 2011. Web. 10 May 2011. .Academy of American Poets. "Langston

Hughes." // Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More //. Academy of American Poets, 2000. Web. 09 May 2011. < http://www.poets.org/poet. php/prmPID/83 >.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; font: 16px/32px Times; margin: 0px;">Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute. "Harlem by Langston Hughes : The Poetry Foundation [poem]." // Poetry Foundation //. Poetry Foundation, 2011. Web. 09 May 2011. < http://www.poetryfoundation. org/poem/175884 >.

<span style="border-collapse: collapse; font: 16px/32px Times; margin: 0px;">"Langston Hughes." // Kyrene School District - Redirect //. Nov. 1998. Web. 09 May 2011. < http://www.kyrene.org/ schools/brisas/sunda/poets/ hughes.htm >.

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