Hopeful Resilience and Triumph

Literary Analysis

The Negro Mother by Langston Hughes

Children, I come back today
To tell you a story of the long dark way
That I had to climb, that I had to know
In order that the race might live and grow.
Look at my face -- dark as the night --
Yet shining like the sun with love's true light.
I am the dark girl who crossed the red sea
Carrying in my body the seed of the free.
I am the woman who worked in the field
Bringing the cotton and the corn to yield.
I am the one who labored as a slave,
Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave --
Children sold away from me, I'm husband sold, too.
No safety , no love, no respect was I due.

Three hundred years in the deepest South:
But God put a song and a prayer in my mouth .
God put a dream like steel in my soul.
Now, through my children, I'm reaching the goal.

Now, through my children, young and free,
I realized the blessing deed to me.
I couldn't read then. I couldn't write.
I had nothing, back there in the night.
Sometimes, the valley was filled with tears,
But I kept trudging on through the lonely years.
Sometimes, the road was hot with the sun,
But I had to keep on till my work was done:
I had to keep on! No stopping for me --
I was the seed of the coming Free.
I nourished the dream that nothing could smother
Deep in my breast -- the Negro mother.
I had only hope then , but now through you,
Dark ones of today, my dreams must come true:
All you dark children in the world out there,
Remember my sweat, my pain, my despair.
Remember my years, heavy with sorrow --
And make of those years a torch for tomorrow.
Make of my pass a road to the light
Out of the darkness, the ignorance, the night.
Lift high my banner out of the dust.
Stand like free men supporting my trust.
Believe in the right, let none push you back.
Remember the whip and the slaver's track.
Remember how the strong in struggle and strife
Still bar you the way, and deny you life --
But march ever forward, breaking down bars.
Look ever upward at the sun and the stars.
Oh, my dark children, may my dreams and my prayers
Impel you forever up the great stairs --
For I will be with you till no white brother
Dares keep down the children of the Negro Mother

          During the Harlem Renaissance, there were many poets and writers who spoke vehemently against the social injustices of the times, but none were as vocal as Langston Hughes. His poems and literary works spoke not only of racial issues but also of resilience, hope, and triumph. In conjunction with the times he lived in, his life portrayed the exact sentiments as his literary works. One poem in particular comes to mind, “The Negro Mother”. This poem describes the injustices bore by the speaker, the determination to overcome, and the hope for future generations. When comparing this poem to Langston Hughes’s life, it’s obvious that he used his life experiences to fuel his imagination for his creative works.

          When James Hughes (Langston’s father) left for Mexico in order to escape racism in the United States, Langston was foisted on different relatives as his mother worked until he’d graduated high school. That summer, Langston went to visit his father in Mexico. He managed to convince his father to send him to college to be a writer instead of an engineer. This act in itself was a battle of wills. James Hughes refused to believe that Langston could make a good living off his literary works. In the poem, the speaker spoke to her descendants to “Remember how the strong in struggle and strife / Still bar you the way, and deny you life --” (43-44). Accordingly, Langston’s father scoffed at the idea that Langston’s career choice could bring him fame and fortune. However, Langston refused to let that deter him. Like the speaker in “Negro Mother”, he would not give up, “But march ever forward, breaking down bars. / Look ever upward at the sun and the stars” (45-46). The resilience to become something in his life shone out like a beacon in this poem.

All of Langston’s poems had an undertone of hope and truimph like a lifeline to hold on to. In the “Negro Mother” the speaker commented that, “[She] nourished the dream that nothing could smother” (29). This excerpt portrayed the speaker’s innate hope of better days to come and the knowledge of triumph over racism. Langston Hughes also held a dream; a dream that he would be able to prove his father wrong and become a famous poet. “Langston decided that instead of running away from the "color line" and hating himself for being black, like his father had, he would write about the real-life experiences of black people” (Hurst). He wrote about the good, bad, beautiful, and ugly aspects of black culture even to the disdain of his African American peers. In the end, Langston Hughes overcame his obstacles and triumphed; going on to become the acclaimed “Poet Laureate of Harlem”. As eloquently put by the speaker in the poem, “Now, through my children, young and free, / I realized the blessing deed to me” (19-20).

Langston Hughes used his life experiences as a palette to draw his muse from. His poems speak of resilience, hope, and, most importantly, triumph which was parallel to the direction that his life took. Langston Hughes rose from grass to grace with hopeful resilience and triumphed, “…till no white brother / Dares keep down the children of the Negro Mother” (49-50).