Of all the literary works we’ve read so far in this class the one that stands out to me as the most impactful, one that I will think about beyond my studies in Langston Hughes, “I, Too.” Poems, like people do not immediately reveal to you what makes a person drawn to them over others, but on further reflection the reasons tend to become clear. In considering why I like this poem, I feel it is the language; the compositional style and the theme of the poem that makes me put it into that subjective category of “my favorite” of the class.
“I, Too” is a poem that shows the plight of a black man struggling to express his plight through by being prevented from enjoying some of the pleasures that whites are allowed to enjoy because of their color. “I Too” explores the reaction of outsiders in the face of oppression, racism and excluding. The first line he identifies himself as not part of the white status quo saying, “I am the darker brother.” The “darker brother” is sent to “eat in the kitchen.” But his reaction is that of humor at his seclusion. In the kitchen he “laughs” and “eats well” so that he can “grow strong.” (Hughes).
In this way it is similar in a lot of ways to another famous Hughes Poem, “The Weary Blue.”
In this poem the speaker is in a dimly lit tavern and is listening to this musician in Harlem. With its uses repetition to create a lyrical poem that is akin to the music that the speaker is hearing, it evokes a mournful tone, but it is the expression of music that is his “revenge” we can call it, or at least his expression of this. A symbol here is a gas light which illuminates the tavern. Interesting, it is an oil lamp, which is the symbol in “Burning Barn” which is the tool by which the bar was burned. The barn is also a flaming illumination of the situation and the end product of the reaction to exclusion and oppression. We see a much different use of this in Hughes poem. Rather than striking out violently against, it sings about and expresses through art the struggle.
The more I learn about it the more interested I become in The Harlem Renaissance. Poems like “I, Too” were MO of the Harlem Reinassance, the art movement that Hughes was apart of. An art movement at the beginning of the 20th century in which black art and culture began to be recognized by white culture. It was centered in New York City’s Harlem which became a popular night spot for both blacks and whites. An example of an author who wrote and was recognized during this period was Alain Lock whose anthology “The New Negro” defined the spirit o the Harlem Renaissance through it’s collection of essays, stories, poems, and artwork.
Hughes poems though do not lament the current situation, but rather they praise a yet-to-come day when things will be easier and better for black people. While the exclusion is just as dramatic, the reaction to it is very different. The poems find a solace in not being welcomed. This is most pronounced in “I, Too” which holds onto the hope that eventually, through not giving up things will change and acceptance will be found.
In lot of ways Hughe’s poem “I, Too” correctly predicted changes that were to occur in the coming century. He says that “They’ll [white people] see how eautiful I am / And be ashamed—“. In a sense, this has already occurred. While racism still exists to some degree in The United States, it is not nearly as pronounced as it was during Hughes times. So we as a culture have seen how beautiful all people are regardless of the color of their skin and we are ashamed for the people in our past who allowed for racial segregation and oppression.
In this way, “I, Too” is not just an iconic poem of the time period that Hughes was writing, but a poem that has a lot of value even today.
What “Little Things” made a Small Impression on Me
Sharon Olds “Little Thing” is a poem about appreciating the small things in life, since sometimes that is the only way that we can praise the larger things which are often out of reach. I not only did not like this poem, but I actually found it annoying an irritating. Upon first reading it I could not exactly say why, but on further reading and thinking about it, I have clearer ideas as to why I was not very fond of this poem.
The one thing that stands out more than anything, is there is a part of this poem which sets off my gag reflex. There is a part of the poem where the speaker says, So when I fix on this tiny image of resin or sweep together with the heel of my hand a pile of my son’s sunburn peels like insect wings.” This image, I find very gross, an image of someone’s pealed skin, which does look like insect wings, is quite off-putting. The author could have chosen from any other image of small things, and I think purposely chose this image because she knew that it would illicit the strongest response in readers. While she may have been right about the strength of the response, for me personally this response was extremely negative. I do like the theme of the poem, and thing that it is an important one as it is important to show appreciation and affection for people by focusing on the small things they bring to the table. This is how we show love. I do like one line in particular, “I think I learned to love the little things about him because of all the big things I could not love, no one could.” From this I get the image of a little girl who is looking up to her father and seeing him do his job, and all these big things, but all she can really love are particulars of his behavior and actions and objects that are in or that has touched his life rather than loving all of him in the abstract.
So even though I like the theme, the poem failed to speak to me because while I liked generally what it was saying, I was not fond of the specific examples that were cited within the text.
Works Cited
""The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes."Redirect to Teaching Writing with Computers. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2013. <http://cai.ucdavis.edu/uccp/workingwear
"I, Too by Langston Hughes."PoemHunter.Com - Thousands of poems and poets. Poetry Search Engine. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 June 2013. <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-too/>.
“Little Things” Sharon Olds. American Poetry Reviews. Vol 14. No. 6
