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Brittney Grubb

Professor Hall

English 2100

28 Feb 2011

Analyzing Elements and Themes Throughout the Works of Langston Hughes

Elements are special tools that are used by writers to enhance the meaning of their

stories and bring clarity to the reader. In short stories, for example, this often includes the

use of setting, speaker, symbols, tone, and other common appearances in literature.

Poetry, however, is gifted with a different kind of sentence structure and punctuation. It

has the ability to bring light to certain sentences or words more than others based on

classifications such as rhythm, meter, and rhyme, and can change our moods based on

how fast or slow these things make us read the piece. These steps, as well as others go

beyond what other genres of literature can do, and that allows the reader to dig into

poetry and discover dominant themes in poems that are as short as one or two sentences.

Langston Hughes is a prime example of this talent in several of his pieces, which he

proves with his smooth use of rhyme, tone, imagery, symbols, and speaker. Three of his

poems, Dream Variations, Cross, and Formula, are specifically good examples of the use

of these elements to convey a particular theme.

Rhyme is the use of similar syllables at the end of lines or sentences in a poem,

often to force the reader to have a certain swiftness of speed when they are reading it, as

decided by the writer. Rhyme can often, though, convey something beyond just the way

in which something is read. Dreaming Variations has an abcb rhyming pattern, which

allows for a steady and mellow flow throughout the entire poem. In doing this, Hughes is
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suggesting a certain monotony of every day life that he is experiencing through his

waiting for night to come. “To fling my arms wide, in some place of the sun, to whirl and

to dance, till the white day is done;” this is a dream that he has had long enough for it to

be easily told, smooth and flowing. Abruptly the pattern is changed, too, right in the

middle of the poem, with the line, “That is my dream!” Following this is the same abcb

pattern the reader had become accustomed to previously, bringing strong emphasis on his

lack of content in his current state. The lack of content being from not being free, which

is the central issue, or theme, behind this piece.

Cross also has an abcb pattern, but has no break in the pattern throughout the

entire poem, unlike Dreaming Variations. The way this is arranged, each stanza is

divided into two parts by the way it sounds if read out loud. The ab has its own little two

line set, and then the cb. In doing so, the writer has actually created a cause-and-effect

like feel to the piece. For example, the first two lines of the second stanza are, “if ever I

cursed my black old mother, and wished she were in hell,” both negative, confessional

statements. The next two lines are, “I’m sorry for that evil wish, and now I wish her

well,” which are confessional of the two previous lines before. The brief pause that this

pairing pattern creates allows for an easily distinguished before and after effect of the

way the author has changed in time. This portrays the theme of regret from past

decisions, and leads into the confusion that it is causing him present day, as the reader

discovers later in the text.

The final poem, Formula, also has the same rhyming pattern as the previous two

poems. It has a break in its pattern with just the word “poetry!” but otherwise remains

consistent. The break here is surprising to the viewer, breaking the bubbly tone that had
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been created by the piece thus far. This effectively serves as a parody of the typical

writing style of poetry because it breaks the semi-tranquil and structured form of the

piece that had been developing. The idea of this break, especially in exclaiming the word

“poetry,” shows the reader that they are, without question, bringing attention to the fact

that it’s about poetry. In a manner of speaking, it’s as if that line is proclaiming the actual

point of the whole story, very blatantly, which parodies the seriousness of digging deep

into a poem to find it’s true meaning.

Tone is another strong aspect of a piece, as it can either stir the reader or soothe

him/her. This in itself can bring dramatic effects to the way the text is read. The tone of

Dreaming Variations is one of serenity and peace. “To fling my arms wide,” and “to

whirl and to dance till the white day is done,” as was quoted earlier, gives the reader a

sense of freedom, which is the exact theme of the piece: a yearning for freedom from

black stereotypes and mistreatment.

The tone of Cross, similarly to Dreaming Variations, seems light-hearted at first

because of all of the apologetic statements, but then comes to an end with “I wonder

where I’m gonna die, being neither white nor black?” The tone is thickened as the

speaker actually gives more reasoning behind cursing his mother, wishing “she were in

hell,” most evidently because she was black and caused a number of negative effects on

her child’s life, none of which can be drawn directly from the text except confusion, from

the last line. The speaker keeps continually apologizing about his attitude towards his

parents, which sets a sorrowful tone. After being put together with the other elements,

this can be seen as reinforcement for the theme of regret that the speaker is feeling.

Formula’s tone needs little explanation, as it uses very light poetic terms to show
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the lack of seriousness within its context. Phrases like “lofty things” and “birds with

wings” both showing the lightness of the poem itself as a parody and bringing attention to

what most poetry is about, simple natural things. Thus, this poem’s tone just brings about

a new perspective to the way poetry is interpreted: read lighthearted poems as simply

that: lighthearted poems.

Imagery is evident in almost every piece of literature one may find. It appeals to

the senses by generating visions, smells, even tastes, in the readers’ mind. In Dreaming

Variations this is done in literally almost every line. “Beneath a tall tree,” “in the face of

the sun,” “night coming tenderly,” all of these create immediate tranquility because of the

cultural value people have put with nature on purity and rest. This, in turn, brings about a

sense of freedom, as no amount of worry or fear is associated with the darkness

mentioned later in the poem. It, instead, even portrays darkness with rest, with statements

such as, “rest at cool evening,” and “rest at pale evening.”

The only imagery portrayed in Cross is that which is used to distinguish between

the social class of blacks and whites during the time the piece was written. The “white

old man” “died in a fine big house” and the “black old mother” “died in a shack.” This

distinction between social classes sets the speaker into a search for his own identity, to

where he himself belongs.

The imagery of Formula includes such lines as “roses in manure grow.” The

growth of roses in manure is specifically effective to the parody concept because it gives

the image of something commonly iconic for beauty and combines it with growing in

manure, which smells unappealing and turns people away, thus making fun of the typical

imagery used in poetry.

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Symbols are often used as examples through simple objects or words to convey a

deeper and more compelling meaning. This is most commonly done in a way to help the

reader understand exactly what the theme of a piece is trying to say, and is often the most

quickly noticed of the elements once the piece is read as a whole. Symbolism is often a

careful collection of all of the elements discussed so far, and thus is able to create a

resounding effect for any piece of literature. This is specifically done in metaphors and

similes. In Dreaming Variations, resting “beneath a tall tree” is directly symbolic of just

simply being at ease and at peace with one’s life, in this case the speaker’s, once equal

treatment has been firmly established between races and the speaker can live and prosper

as he or she so desires. Peace, and especially equality, again relate back to the importance

of freedom to this speaker, and the point he or she is trying to make throughout the entire

poem.

In Cross, the most obvious symbolism is that of the speaker’s parents, who are

from different backgrounds. The father, a white man, symbolizes the wealthy, prosperous

side of the nation, where life is easy and carefree, and treatment is just. His or her mother,

is black, and represents the oppressed and the weary, who must be on constant watch of

themselves and work harder to have the simple pleasures that white people have. Dying is

also symbolic, ironically, of life. The speaker is more than likely less concerned with

exactly where he is going to die, but more so how he or she will be treated until death,

and how they will be treated: as the pure American or the, in this context, unworthy

African American. The very mix that he or she has to live with is producing an identity

crisis that is irresolvable.

Symbolism is actually parodied in Formula, in contribution to the way the

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imagery is set up for the reader. The idea is actually for the reader to take the symbolism

as literal as possible, so that the commonly over-used symbols in poetry are seen for what

they truly are, just roses growing in dirt, or just birds flying in the air.

The speaker can frequently be mysterious to some, and can be associated with a

certain personality and gender immediately without even considering the texts. This is

even more difficult to decipher in poetry, as it typically does not provide a list of

adjectives of characters, along with their descriptions and backgrounds, as novels do. In

the case of Dream Variations, it seems that there is no specificity as to what gender the

speaker is, nor any form of emphasis of its importance as to which one it is. This, rather,

focuses on race. The last line of the poem is, “Black like me,” telling the viewer, in

simplistic terms, that the speaker is an African American. Rather than define the theme of

the poem, it rather reinforces what the other elements have set in stone as the theme, by

explaining why the speaker desires freedom so strongly, and what type of freedom they

may want. With this clue, the reader is able to associate the freedom with a level of

equality, most likely compared to white people, as is hinted at in line 4, “till the white day

is done,” as opposed to some sort of unresolved freedom we may get from a white

speaker: freedom from a relationship, or jail, etcetera.

The speaker of the poem, Cross, again lacks specificity towards gender, but again

turn towards the importance of what race the speaker is. “Being neither white nor black,”

the speaker lacks confidence, and grows a sense of confusion and regret towards his

parents not being of the same race. With even further consideration, it seems that he or

she would rather be 100 percent black, even though oppressed, or 100 percent white, so

he or she would at least know who they are.

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The speaker of Formula is, in this case, the writer of the poem himself. As he has

been both a reader and writer of poetry, he has seen and used all of the elements

previously listed. The theme shines through the speaker almost as powerfully as in every

other element used in the poem, because a poet is not only making fun of his career, but

himself.

The elements that have been used in these poems, specifically those discussed:

rhyme, tone, imagery, symbols, and speaker; are all proof of just how powerful a poem

can be, whether it consists of two sentences of twenty, and how much can be discovered

by knowing and understanding the use of such elements.

Works Cited

Hughes, Langston. “Dream Variations.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed.

Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 20l1. 1141. Print.
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Hughes, Langston. “Cross.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer.

9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 20l1. 1142. Print.

Hughes, Langston. “Formula.” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael

Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 20l1. 1142-1143. Print.