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Books by
Langston
Weary Blues (1926) /
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
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The Ways of White Folks (Stories) /
The Big Sea: An Autobiography
Best of Simple /
I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey /
New Negro Poets U.S.A.
Not Without Laughter /Five Plays by Langston Hughes /
Selected Poems of Langston Hughes
Ask Your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz /
Fine Clothes to the Jew /
The Collected Works of Langston Hughes (Poems 1921-1940)
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Letter 1
Langston
Hughes Comments
On Christian's Blues Poems
Langston
Hughes
c/o
The Crisis, 69 Fifth Avenue
New
York City
On
Tour
Tuskegee
Institute, Alabama
February
15, 1932
Mr.
Marcus B. Christian
2500
Palmyra Street
New
Orleans, Louisiana
My
dear Mr. Christian:
I
believe I told you after my lecture that I liked your BLUES
best, particularly your splendid poem in dialect about the New
Year. I liked also the poem BOW DOWN NIGGER BOW DOWN.
The
only criticism I would have on these dialect poems is that your
dialect is too complicated for the average person to read, which
would hinder their having a wide appreciation. I think they
would be just as effective if you would limit your dialect to a
few words like spelling 'the' in the conventional 'de' way and
not attempting to dialectize every word.
The
other poem of these that I think I liked best was the lovely
little lyric called SOUVENIR. I think that would make a very
beautiful song. Thank you for letting me see your work. Why not
submit some of them to the magazines and newspapers for possible
publication?
Very truly yours,
Langston Hughes Next--2->> * * * * *
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Ballad of
Roosevelt
By Langston
Hughes
The pot was empty,
The cupboard was bare.
I
said, Papa,
What’s the matter here?
I’m waitin' on Roosevelt, son,
Roosevelt, Roosevelt,
Waitin' on Roosevelt, son.
The rent was due,
And the lights was out.
I
said, Tell me, Mama,
What’s it all about?
We’re waitin' on Roosevelt, son,
Roosevelt, Roosevelt,
Just waitin' on Roosevelt.
Sister got sick
And the doctor wouldn’t come
Cause we couldn’t pay him
The proper sum—
A-waitin
on Roosevelt,
Roosevelt, Roosevelt,
A-waitin'
on Roosevelt.
Then one day
They put us out o' the house.
Ma
and Pa was Meek as a mouse
Still waitin' on Roosevelt,
Roosevelt, Roosevelt.
But when they felt those
Cold winds blow
And didn’t have no
Place to go
Pa
said, I’m tired
O’waitin' on Roosevelt,
Roosevelt, Roosevelt.
Damn tired o‘ waitin’ on Roosevelt.
I
can’t git a job
And I can’t git no grub.
Backbone and navel’s
Doin' the belly-rub—
A-waitin'
on Roosevelt,
Roosevelt, Roosevelt.
And a lot o' other folks
What’s hungry and cold
Done stopped believin'
What they been told
By
Roosevelt,
Roosevelt, Roosevelt—
Cause the pot’s still empty,
And the cupboard’s still bare,
And you can’t build a
bungalow
Out o' air—
Mr. Roosevelt, listen!
What’s the matter here?
Source: Langston Hughes,
“Ballad of Roosevelt,” New Republic 31
(November 14, 1934 |
* * * * * Scholarly Books on
Langston Hughes
Martha Cobb.
Harlem, Haiti, and Havana: A comparative critical study
of Langston Hughes, Jacques Roumain, Nicolás Guillén.
1979.
Faith Berry.
Before & Beyond Harlem: Biography of Langston Hughes.
1995.
Faith Berry, edited
Good
Morning Revolution: Uncollected Writings of Langston
Hughes. 1973
Arnold Rampersad.
The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume I: 1902-1941, I,
Too, Sing America (Life of Langston Hughes, 1902-1941).
2002
Arnold Rampersad.
The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume II: 1914-1967, I
Dream a World (Life of Langston Hughes, 1941-1967).
2002
Steven C. Tracy.
Langston Hughes and the Blues. 2001
R. Baxter Miller.
The Art And Imagination of Langston Hughes. 2006.
Christopher C Santis,
Christopher C Santis,
Langston
Hughes and the *Chicago Defender*: Essays on Race,
Politics, and Culture, 1942-62.
1995
Jonathan Scott
Socialist Joy in the Writing of Langston Hughes.
2006
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* updated 1 October 2007 |
