T.S Eliot and Langston Hughes were working poets in the early 1900’s. They project their personal thoughts and fears into their work and construct poems that defy definition. Their technique is alike and both are key figures in the history of poetry, yet they focus on very contrasting themes and motifs. When attempting to understand the meaning of a poets work many aspects of the poets lives is analysed to gain a greater understanding. How significant is a poets race when understanding their work?
T.S Eliot was a modernist poet. “The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock” was the first published poem by Eliot and established him as a writer with a unique voice. Eliot covers motifs of existentialism, sexual inadequacy, emasculation and morality in …show more content…
On the day of Hughes’ graduation from high school he got a train across the Mississippi. On this journey he reflected upon the significance of the Mississippi river and how it created a bond between him and his African ancestors. The result of this was a poem called “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. It conveys how Langston Hughes felt that rivers spiritually connected him to his ancestors that sailed the Nile, Euphrates and the Mississippi. There is a significant racial influence on Langston Hughes’ work. His poems focus on themes of racism, oppression and self-love whilst maintaining an metaphorical and symbolic nature. He communicates African American frustration in the majority of his work. “I,Too”, “Mother to Son” and “Harlem” are concerned with the treatment of African Americans in the US and convey potent messages about the racism and oppression Black people faced in America. Hughes also utilises poetic techniques and rhythms traditionally used in African folk tales and Children’s nursery rhymes. He also employs a colloquialized vernacular to make his work more accessible and relatable to other African …show more content…
However it affects different races in different ways. Langston Hughes would have experienced prejudice regularly and that would have in turn, made his work more racially motivated because it was a much more significant part of his life than T.S Eliot’s race would have been to him. Even though it may not have been apparent at the time, the race of T.S Eliot is significant because it offers perspective to the time period he was writing from. Eliot was a white male living in the same time period as Hughes yet Hughes’ work and life, were defined by his race. Hughes was angered by racism and it fuelled his poems but Eliot, because of his race, was able to write about the human psyche with the absence of prejudice dominating his life. Poems are projections of what is most significant to the poet. Eliot was enabled by his race, Hughes was fuelled by
T.S Eliot was a modernist poet. “The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock” was the first published poem by Eliot and established him as a writer with a unique voice. Eliot covers motifs of existentialism, sexual inadequacy, emasculation and morality in …show more content…
On the day of Hughes’ graduation from high school he got a train across the Mississippi. On this journey he reflected upon the significance of the Mississippi river and how it created a bond between him and his African ancestors. The result of this was a poem called “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. It conveys how Langston Hughes felt that rivers spiritually connected him to his ancestors that sailed the Nile, Euphrates and the Mississippi. There is a significant racial influence on Langston Hughes’ work. His poems focus on themes of racism, oppression and self-love whilst maintaining an metaphorical and symbolic nature. He communicates African American frustration in the majority of his work. “I,Too”, “Mother to Son” and “Harlem” are concerned with the treatment of African Americans in the US and convey potent messages about the racism and oppression Black people faced in America. Hughes also utilises poetic techniques and rhythms traditionally used in African folk tales and Children’s nursery rhymes. He also employs a colloquialized vernacular to make his work more accessible and relatable to other African …show more content…
However it affects different races in different ways. Langston Hughes would have experienced prejudice regularly and that would have in turn, made his work more racially motivated because it was a much more significant part of his life than T.S Eliot’s race would have been to him. Even though it may not have been apparent at the time, the race of T.S Eliot is significant because it offers perspective to the time period he was writing from. Eliot was a white male living in the same time period as Hughes yet Hughes’ work and life, were defined by his race. Hughes was angered by racism and it fuelled his poems but Eliot, because of his race, was able to write about the human psyche with the absence of prejudice dominating his life. Poems are projections of what is most significant to the poet. Eliot was enabled by his race, Hughes was fuelled by