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").

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

Songs

I sat there singing herSongs in the dark.She said;'I do not understandThe words'.I said;'There areNo words'.

© Langston Hughes

Lonesome Place

I got to leave this town.It’s a lonesome place.Got to leave this town causeIt’s a lonesome place.A po’, po’ boy can’tFind a friendly face.Goin’ down..

© Langston Hughes

Fire-Caught

The gold moth did not love himSo, gorgeous, she flew away.But the gray moth circled the flameUntil the break of day.And then, with wings like a dead..

© Langston Hughes

Genius Child

This is a song for the genius child.Sing it softly, for the song is wild.Sing it softly as ever you can -Lest the song get out of..

© Langston Hughes

For Selma

In places likeSelma, Alabama,Kids say,In places likeChicago and New York...In places likeChicago and New YorkKids say,In places likeLondon and..

© Langston Hughes

Catch

Big Boy cameCarrying a mermaidOn his shouldersAnd the mermaidHad her tailCurvedBeneath his arm.Being a fisher boy,He’d found a fishTo carry—Half..

© Langston Hughes

Morning After

I was so sick last night IDidn't hardly know my mind.So sick last night IDidn't know my mind.I drunk some bad licker thatAlmost made me blind.Had a..

© Langston Hughes

Snake

He glides so swiftlyBack into the grass-Gives me the courtesy of roadTo let me pass,That I am half ashamedTo seek a stoneTo kill him.

© Langston Hughes

Wisdom And War

We do not care-That much is clear.Not enoughOf us careAnywhere.We are not wise-For that reason,Mankind dies.To thinkIs much againstThe..

© Langston Hughes

When Sue Wears Red

When Susanna Jones wears redher face is like an ancient cameoTurned brown by the ages.Come with a blast of trumphets, Jesus!When Susanna Jones wears..

© Langston Hughes

Lincoln Monument: Washington

Let's go see Old AbeSitting in the marble and the moonlight,Sitting lonely in the marble and the moonlight,Quiet for ten thousand centuries, old..

© Langston Hughes

Madam And The Rent Man

The rent man knocked.He said, Howdy-do?I said, WhatCan I do for you?He said, You knowYour rent is due.I said, Listen,Before I'd payI'd go to HadesAnd..

© Langston Hughes

Motto

I play it coolI dig all jiveThat's the reasonI stay aliveMy mottoAs I live and learnIs dig and be dug in return

© Langston Hughes

Demand

Listen!Dear dream of utter aliveness-Touching my body of utter death-Tell me, O quickly! dream of aliveness,The flaming source of your bright..

© Langston Hughes