Langston Hughes , what a wonderful world

I see trees of green........ red roses too

I see em bloom..... for me and for you

And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white

Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights

And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky

Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by

I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do

Theyre really sayin......i love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow

Theyll learn much more.....than Ill never knowAnd I think to myself .....what a wonderful world(instrumental break)

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky

Are there on the faces.....of people ..going by

I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do

Theyre really sayin...*spoken*(I ....love....you).

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow*spoken*(you know their gonna learn A whole lot more than Ill never know)

And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

I Posted that song "What a Wonderful World because i kept hearing it play when i was reading a bunch of Langston Hughes work. I really like his upbeat attitude and his sweetness as opposed to the negativeness and sour/bitterness of some of the other poems we have read by Cullen, Mckay, Toomer etc. It seems that Hughes can accopmplish with his positivness what every other writer wanted to accomplish in a negative tone. I like the broad spectrum though it allows for good appreciation of the readings; being every writer we have written has a either distinctly or fairly differnt style.

My favorite poem is "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". This is how i like to think of heritage... although mckay had some good ones too..I like how Hughes takes you to the places he speaks of... the euphrates, congo, and the nile and allows the mental pictures to be drawn without overwhelming the reader. The simple terse and vocal upbeat tone draw the reader in. I also feel like this poem is for africans because of the reference to african places, however being white i feel application to myself as well. "My soul has grown deep like rivers" from all the experiences i have gone through. Hughes poems are for the larger audience, even if most other authors wanted to reach out to a black and white audience, none of them relaxed;comforted; invited me to read like Hughes did.

In "The South" Hughes speaks of how the south has spit in his face; his peoples face. He talks of the ups and downs. The south is so inviting to him, like a girl he thinks is sweet that turns out to be a whore. He wants to love her but she would cheat on him, hurt him and treat him like shit. "Idiot brained"--- reminds me of the ignorant dumb slave watchers that think they are so much better than the slaves, but are really lazy and just as important evenless important than the slaves to the plantation owner.. expendable.

hughes says "he is who is black" "would give many rare gifts to her" --speaking of the south, "but she turns her back on me". too bitter for his liking, so he has to leave the warmth of the south to head to the "cold faced North" to "escape the spell" of the south.

He says the north is "akinder mistress" which means shes nicer,but not his wife--the south which he was married to just caused him so much pain--he had to get away from her-from it

Hedraaws the south as a woman and i can relate to that.

Another one that i was more than a bit fond of was "Mother to Son". Hughes speaks of a mother that uses the walk up stairs; stairs with tacks and splinters and nails, as a metaphor for life. She--the poem and the mother are inspirational to the son. life is not easy, and climbing the stairs will make u a stronger person. "and reachin a landin's" "and a turnin' corners" theres unexpected parts of the stairs, unpected twists in life. the future has not happend yet and cannot be expected to happen in any way shape or form. It will be dark in som

e areas and light in others. She tells her son " dont you set down on those steps" "dont you turn back" because in life you have to stay ahead, and the mother continues to climb for herself and her son, so he must do the same.