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randisworld's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Lots of Langston’s classics here. I enjoyed listening. He had so many amazing adventures.
emilybolivia's review against another edition
5.0
Great collection! I would have liked a little longer introduction but chapters were impeccably organized and the poetry itself was beautiful and moving.
lashawnb's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
alexisclare's review against another edition
5.0
Langston Hughes poems good and moving and beautiful, water wet, fork found in kitchen, etc
supervocalic's review against another edition
I chose this for my library’s summer reading category of “Book Published in the 1920’s.” The whole first section of poems made me feel like I was in a cool jazz club down a stony path of a deeply rooted city. After that, my favorite individual poems were Dream Variation, As I Grew Older, Sea Charm, Suicide’s Note, and Afraid.
seeceeread's review against another edition
What is money for?
To spend, he says
And wine? To drink!
And women? To love
And today? For joy
And tomorrow? For joy! • Young Sailor
Carl Van Vechten sets the globetrotting stage in a brief introduction that mentions the many places where Hughes lived, traveled, worked. We skip geographical locations, class perspectives, topics, sailing through pan-African experiences:
- The loveliness of urban sex workers: "Her dark brown face is like a withered flower on a broken stem • Young Prostitute"
- The violent specificity of transitions at certain latitudes: "God having a hemorrhage, blood coughed across the sky, staining the dark sea red – that is the sunset in the Caribbean. • Caribbean Sunset"
- The cloistered charm of despair: "The calm, cool face of the river asked me for a kiss. • Suicide's Note"
Starting with the prologue "Proem," Hughes' "I" often stands for the Black collective:
"I am a negro, Black as the night is black. Black like the depths of my Africa."
He studies the tricks of light and feeling that distinguish memorable from mundane. And calls out to lovers of the song of life, to join him as he improvises joy.
kellyrenea's review against another edition
4.0
Book 16 of 2023: The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
The Weary Blues, Langston Hughes's first book of poems, was hailed as a masterpiece when it was originally published. It is still a highly regarded literary work that delivers a vivid portrayal of the Black experience more than 90 years after it was first published.
I loved reading these poems - hearing and feeling the rhythm in the words. Hughes paints vivid pictures with his imagery and composes rhythmic patterns in his word choice.
Some of my favorite quotes are:
“Put no tombstone at my head, For here I do not make my bed. Strew no flowers on my grave, I’ve gone back to the wind and wave. Do not, do not weep for me, For I am happy with my sea.”
“Without rest in the darkness, Weary as the tired night, My soul Empty as the silence, Empty with a vague, Aching emptiness, Desiring, Needing someone, Something.”
“Bring me all of your dreams, You dreamers. Bring me all of your Heart melodies That I may wrap them In a blue cloud-cloth Away from the too rough fingers Of the world.”
The Weary Blues, Langston Hughes's first book of poems, was hailed as a masterpiece when it was originally published. It is still a highly regarded literary work that delivers a vivid portrayal of the Black experience more than 90 years after it was first published.
I loved reading these poems - hearing and feeling the rhythm in the words. Hughes paints vivid pictures with his imagery and composes rhythmic patterns in his word choice.
Some of my favorite quotes are:
“Put no tombstone at my head, For here I do not make my bed. Strew no flowers on my grave, I’ve gone back to the wind and wave. Do not, do not weep for me, For I am happy with my sea.”
“Without rest in the darkness, Weary as the tired night, My soul Empty as the silence, Empty with a vague, Aching emptiness, Desiring, Needing someone, Something.”
“Bring me all of your dreams, You dreamers. Bring me all of your Heart melodies That I may wrap them In a blue cloud-cloth Away from the too rough fingers Of the world.”