Harlem Renaissance Poets

Harlem Renaissance Poets

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Introduction

        The Harlem Renaissance refers to an era of cultural, literary, and musical explosion of 1920 to 1930, which commenced in New York’s African-American population, the era proved very significant in the development of an appealing and enhanced identity of African-Americans as musicians, visual artists, and writers, pronouncing enhanced modes of the African-American culture demonstrated by folk culture, modernist techniques, and artistic forms. The activists and artists who rose during the Harlem Renaissance influenced Negrismo movements and the French and Caribbean Negritude in addition to constructing a groundwork for champions of black arts including Amiri Baraka and Sonia Sanchez. Writing luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance include Elizabeth Alexander, Arna Bontemps, Claude McKay, James Weldon Johnson, Wallace Henry Thurman, Countee Cullen, and Langstone Hughes. This article seeks to offer a critical analysis of Langstone Hughes and Wallace Thurman’s poems, their significance, and roles within the Harlem Renaissance.

A Critical Analysis of Poems by Langstone Hughes and Wallace Thurman

        Langstone Hughes is among the most famous poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was a writer whose work ranged included plays, novels, anthologies, translations, children’s book, and short stories. His poems were nevertheless more important. Hughes began exploring poetry in 1910 and in 1921 he relocated to Harlem. Hughes’ work was very significant to the Harlem renaissance since they offered a reflection of the perception that the culture and traditions of African-Americans should be celebrated. Hughes promoted the idea that Black culture was also significant and valuable just like the white tradition. As a result, many of his works advocated his beliefs, for instance, his poem titled “Let America Be America Again”. Hughes works are appreciated by blacks and whites alike (Vogel, 2009).

On the other hand is Wallace Thurman. Thurman was a Utah-born African-American poet who studied at the University of California and the University of Utah. Thurman relocated to Harlem in 1925 as the managing editor of a black periodical known as the Messenger. Later on in 1926, Thurman edited the Fire magazine, which was, however, unsuccessful. One of the most famous poems by Wallace Thurman is the poem “Fire!!”Which communicated the consuming mistreatments that blacks faced from the white population. The fire represents white people while the blacks are represented by the objects being consumed by the fire. Thurman’s poem is significant since it demonstrates the undying and strong will by the blacks to get over the white oppression. The poem by Wallace Thurman encouraged African-Americans to endure the suffering since burns caused by fire eventually heal and fire eventually die out. Both Thurman and Hughes speak out their beliefs in compelling voices effectively representing the opinions and desires of the blacks. These two Renaissance writers demonstrated double- consciousness since they share a peculiar essence of the customs, landscape, dialects, and dress. These characters were mostly considered social castaways due to their lack of quality education (Thurman, Singh & Scott, 2003).