Langston+Hughes

Still Here By, Langston Hughes

I been scared and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me,

Looks like between 'em they done Tried to make me

Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'-- But I don't care! I'm still here!

Summary: This poem is about life. It says that no matter how battered and beaten you are, as long as you are still here it dose not matter how badly you have been beaten or how worn out you feel its all about you making it through those tough times and just live because your still here. It dose not even matter that people tried to change you or beat you down or build you up as long as you made it through is all that matters. Langston Hughes also expresses at the end of the poem that even if people stop laughing, loving, and living life, he dose not care. To him all that matters is that he is still here.

Correlation:

1.) Langston Hughes is a famous poet that often writes poems that deal with racial issues. This poem fits into this catagory. In the poem it explains how no matter how beaten or scattered you are as long as your still here, thats all that matters. This can be applied to the racial issues that were occuring in the era in which Hughes was writing. This poem embodies the racial tensions and issues that surrounded Hughes everyday. This poem sybolizes the racial issues of this time period and the people that racism affected.

2.) Langston Hughes' history also has alot to do with the meaning of this poem. Langston's grandmother was a prominent member in the African American community where she lived. Langston also recieved alot of influence from where he lived in Harlem, New York. He wrote this poem in part because of the struggles that people in his neighborhood were facing. He wrote down the feelings of all of the people who surrounded him into poetry. This poem is influenced heavily from his past and the people around him.

Conclusion: Still Here written by Langston Hughes is a classic American poem that should be read by evereyone. Not only does this poem portray the life of African Americans in this era, but it also serves as an inspiration to keep on pushing through the hard times cause all that matters is that you are still there and making it through. Langston Hughes' style also shows through in this poem, it is not filled with formal language but rather words that are filled with passion and emotion. These aspects make this poem truely one of the greatest American poems by one of the greatest American poets.