Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
"Why Do I Love" You, Sir?
"Why do I love" You, Sir?Because—The Wind does not require the GrassTo answer—Wherefore when He passShe cannot keep Her place.Because He knows—andDo..
© Emily Dickinson
Hope Is The Thing With Feathers
'Hope' is the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul—And sings the tune without the words—And never stops—at all—And sweetest—in the Gale—is..
© Emily Dickinson
You and your whole race
You and your whole race.Look down upon the town in which you liveAnd be ashamed.Look down upon white folksAnd upon yourselvesAnd be ashamedThat such..
© Langston Hughes
Park Bench
I live on a park bench.You, Park Avenue.Hell of a distanceBetween us two.I beg a dime for dinner-You got a butler and maid.But I'm wakin' up!Say..
© Langston Hughes
Thanksgiving Time
When the night winds whistle through the trees and blow the crisp brown leaves a-crackling down,When the autumn moon is big and yellow-orange and..
© Langston Hughes
Song For A Dark Girl
Way Down South in Dixie(Break the heart of me)They hung my black young loverTo a cross roads tree.Way Down South in Dixie(Bruised body high in air)I..
© Langston Hughes
Feet o' Jesus
At the feet o' Jesus,Sorrow like a sea.Lordy, let yo' mercyCome driftin' down on me.At the feet o' JesusAt yo' feet I stand.O, ma little Jesus,Please..
© Langston Hughes
The City
In the morning the citySpreads its wingsMaking a songIn stone that sings.In the evening the cityGoes to bedHanging lightsAbove its head.
© Langston Hughes
Warning
Negroes,Sweet and docile,Meek, humble and kind:Beware the dayThey change their mind!WindIn the cotton fields,Gentle Breeze:Beware the hourIt uproots..
© Langston Hughes
God
I am God—Without one friend,Alone in my purityWorld without end.Below me young loversTread the sweet ground—But I am God—I cannot come..
© Langston Hughes
Kids Who Die
This is for the kids who die,Black and white,For kids will die certainly.The old and rich will live on awhile,As always,Eating blood and gold,Letting..
© Langston Hughes
Prize Fighter
Only dumb guys fight.If I wasn't dumbI wouldn't be fightin'.I could make six dollars a dayOn the docksAnd I'd save more than I do now.Only dumb guys..
© Langston Hughes
Madam's Past History
My name is Johnson--Madam Alberta K.The Madam stands for business.I'm smart that way.I had aHAIR-DRESSING PARLORBeforeThe depression putThe prices..
© Langston Hughes
Dying Beast
Sensing death,The buzzards gather —Noting the last struggleOf flesh under weather,Noting the last glanceOf agonized eyeAt passing windAnd boundless..
© Langston Hughes
Question [1]
When the old junk man DeathComes to gather up our bodiesAnd toss them into the sack of oblivion,I wonder if he will findThe corpse of a white..
© Langston Hughes
Me And The Mule
My old mule,He's gota grin on his face.He's been a mule so longHe's forgotten about his race.I'm like that old mule --Black -- and don't give a..
© Langston Hughes
Pierrot
I work all day,Said Simple John,Myself a house to buy.I work all day,Said Simple John,But Pierrot wondered why.For Pierrrot loved the long white..
© Langston Hughes
To Certain
You sicken me with lies,With truthful lies.And with your pious faces.And your wide, out-stretched,mock-welcome, Christian hands.While underneathIs..
© Langston Hughes
Madam And The Census Man
The census man,The day he came round,Wanted my nameTo put it down.I said, Johnson,Alberta K.But he hated to writeThe K that way.He said, WhatDoes K..
© Langston Hughes
Sick Room
How quietIt is in this sick roomWhere on the bedA silent woman lies between two lovers-Life and Death,And all three covered with a sheet of pain.
© Langston Hughes
Negro Dancers
'Me an' ma baby'sGot two mo' ways,Two mo' ways to do de Charleston! 'Da, da,Da, da, da!Two mo' ways to do de Charleston! 'Soft light on the..
© Langston Hughes
Personal
In an envelope marked:PERSONALGod addressed me a letter.In an envelope marked:PERSONALI have given my answer.
© Langston Hughes
Wealth
From Christ to GhandiAppears this truth-St. Francis of AssisiProves it, too:Goodness becomes grandeurSurpassing might of kings.Halos of..
© Langston Hughes
Sylvester’s Dying Bed
I woke up this mornin’’Bout half-past three.All the womens in townWas gathered round me.Sweet gals was a-moanin’,“Sylvester’s gonna die!”And a..
© Langston Hughes
Trumpet Player
The NegroWith the trumpet at his lipsHas dark moons of wearinessBeneath his eyeswhere the smoldering memoryof slave shipsBlazed to the crack of..
© Langston Hughes