Harlem (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Langston Hughes
- First Published: 1951
- Type of Work: Lyric
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: African Americans, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Racism, Blacks, Twentieth century, New York City, Harlem Renaissance, Dreams, American Dream, Poverty or poor people, City life
The Poem
“Harlem” is a short, reflective poem, somber in tone, with an ominous, pointedly italicized ending. It appeared originally as the first poem in the last sequence of poems (“Lenox Avenue Mural”) in the book Montage of a Dream Deferred. Sometimes Montage of a Dream Deferred has been reprinted in its entirety (as in Hughes’s Selected Poems); sometimes “Lenox Avenue Mural” has been reprinted separately; often “Harlem” has been reprinted alone.
The poem can stand alone. Although it is part of a suite of six poems (“Lenox...
[The entire page is 1619 words long]
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