Let America Be America Again Analysis by Elements of Poetry
Literary Analysis
Langston Hughes is writing a poem of someone who feels that America does not alive upwardly to what it should be. The tone is angry and resentful. He points to the people who've come up here with hopes and dreams and they're being let down. He's likewise saying that there is an economic disparity between people. In essence, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer, because there is not equal opportunity.
Let America Be America Again
Let information technology be the dream information technology used to be. Permit it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a dwelling where he himself is gratis.
America never was America to me.
Permit America be the dream the dreamers. Allow it be that great strong land of love. Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme. That any man be crushed by one to a higher place.
Information technology never was America to me.
O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, Only opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.
There'south never been equality for me, Nor liberty in this "homeland of the free."
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are y'all that draws your veil beyond the stars? I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, i am the black human bearing slavery'southward scars.
I am the red human driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—And finding only the same sometime stupid program. Of domestic dog eat canis familiaris, of mighty shell the weak.
I am the young human being, full of force and hope, Tangled in that aboriginal endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the country!
Of take hold of the aureate! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of piece of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for 1'south ain greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the black man, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, hateful— Hungry even so today despite the dream. Browbeaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the human being who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years. Yet I'grand the one who dreamt our bones dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream and then stiff, then dauntless, so truthful, That fifty-fifty notwithstanding its mighty daring sings In every brick and rock, in every furrow turned
That'due south made America the land it has become. O, I'chiliad the man who sailed those early on sea. In search of what I meant to be my dwelling house—
For I'thou the one who left night Ireland's shore, And Poland's plainly, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa'southward strand I came To build a "homeland of the free."
Whorl to Go along
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The costless? Who said the gratuitous? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who take nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed And all the songs we've sung, And all the hopes we've held And all the flags nosotros've hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay— Except the dream that'due south almost dead today.
O, let America exist America again— The land that never has been withal— And yet must be—the country where every homo is free.
The country that's mine—the poor homo's, Indian's, Negro's, ME— Who made America, Whose sweat and claret, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream over again. Sure, call me whatsoever ugly name you choose— The steel of liberty does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
Nosotros must take back our land again, America!
O, yes, I say information technology plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath— America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster decease, The corruption and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies.
Nosotros, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless evidently.
All, all the stretch of these great green states.
Line By Line
1-five : The reader is immediately introduced to the fact that the author does not believe that America is all it can be due to the fact that the word "again" is used. He wants America to exist "the dream information technology used to be." But the powerful line is #5 which reads "America was never America." This voices what many people experience: that America's ideals of equality, freedom, and freedom don't seem real.
6-10 : In a sense, in that location is a positive tone because there is a hope that America tin be a "great strong land of love," but and then it he uses words and phrases like "kings connive," "tyrant's scheme,'' and "crushed." Therefore, he conveys that there are people in power who are in control and deprive others of opportunities. Line 10 repeats the idea that America isn't what it could be for him. So, lines #5 and #10 share the aforementioned message.
11-14 : Liberty, which is another word for freedom, is of import in the dream America holds then preciously. The Statue of Freedom is a symbol of America. It was a welcoming site for people who immigrated here. So, it is a symbol of America and holds hope of what America represents. Hughes wants an America that is "crowned with no false patriotic wreathe." So, he wants a existent, patriotic, truthful America, with no simulated promises.
fifteen-16: This is a repeat of the message from lines #5 and #10—hat equality doesn't exist for him.
17-19 : This poses the thought of darkness and something veiled, like idea of freedom for him is night or blocked.
20-25: In this stanza, we learn that this is non just about one group of people. Hughes is speaking for many who aren't included in America's reality—poor whites, African Americans, American Indians, and immigrants are all groups who've been left out.
26-32 : The primal message here is one of greed. Coin is at the center of what America has become. Hughes feels that "power, proceeds" and owning property is the focus. It's all nearly coin. He says in line #32 "Of owning everything for 1's own greed!" To him, that's what America has become.
33-40 : To personalize and give a face to people who aren't a part of the American Dream, he uses the words "I am" over and over. Whether one is a farmer or a worker, he says "I am the people" and says that those in this position are getting mad and hungry, and feel "beaten" on line #38. It'due south actually proverb that some people are working difficult, but the dream isn't there for them.
41-52: This makes the poem about the individual. Hughes says "I'grand the one…" and "I'm the man…" and "I came" and "I meant " to limited the fact that people came hither with high hopes and big dreams, whether as immigrants from Ireland, Poland, England—or "torn" from Africa and forced into slavery hither. All should take a "homeland of the free."
53: "The free!" This says it all—the fact that we should all exist free in every way: legally, socially, economically, to savour America on equal level.
54-63: Hughes is coming back and saying sarcastically that he wouldn't say there is freedom. He is speaking for the "millions" of people who have been struggling, hoping, working, and flying American flags, "who accept nothing" except for dreams that are "most dead." But, the fact that he uses the discussion most shows a little hope. It reminds us of how happy and meaningful it was for many people when Obama was elected. It gave people the hope that they needed.
64-74: Langston Hughes is saying that America needs to be what information technology hasn't been still, a identify "where every man is free." He capitalizes the discussion "me" on line #69, because he desperately wants to realize the American dream. Again, we see hope when he says "bring back our mighty dream once again."
75-lxxx: Reclaiming the idea of America is the thought here. It has to exist for anybody.
81-85: Hopes resonates here. Langston Hughes ends this with a sense of hope by saying "And yet I wearable this oath-America will be!" on lines #84-85
86-94: "Nosotros the people, must redeem" is powerful. It'due south a strong, passionate message that America must be more than it is, and that it tin exist!
Literary Devices
Stanzas: Stanzas divide the parts of the verse form. Still, his stanzas vary in length. The variation depends on the message. There is no exact number of lines to each one.
Rhyme: Hughes uses rhyme to depict attention to the poetic element of his message. Words such as "exist" and "gratuitous" in lines 2 and 4, "dreamed" and "schemed" in lines 6 and 8, and "wreathe" and "exhale" in lines 12 and 14, all demonstrate rhyming.
Repetition: Repetition is used for event here with variations of the message that freedom doesn't exist for Hughes. To be specific, line 5 says "America never was America for me." Line 10 says "It never was America for me." His refrain here is the main theme: that he hasn't felt a part of the American dream. That'south why it's set autonomously from other lines, for emphasis.
Metaphor: Hughes uses the word machine on line 34 when he says, "I am the worker sold to the machine." The automobile is a metaphor for the American system that has let him down.
Alliteration: The phrase on line #4 represents ingemination. Information technology says "dream the dreamers dreamed." Another example is on line #eleven with "O, let my land be a land where liberty," and "live like leeches on the people's lives", on lines #77-78.
Point of View: Told in the starting time person. Uses the give-and-take "I' throughout.
Extended Metaphor: America is used equally an extended metaphor considering it is a word used throughout the verse form with many comparisons of what information technology should be. It should be a state of the gratuitous on line #four, opportunity on line #xiii, equality on line #14, and a homeland on line #52.
Figurative Language/Dialogue: As language that evokes mental images and sensory impressions, lines #17-19 evoke the images of darkness and veils. Information technology says, "Say, who are y'all that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?" This question stands out from the verse form in that its font is dissimilar, information technology is spoken as dialogue, and it draws the reader to an paradigm that evokes darkness and something covered, like the dream of America is covered upwardly or dark to sure people.
Imagery: Hughes uses imagery throughout the poem to make information technology speak to the reader. For example, he uses "slavery's scars" on line #21, "the young human being, total of strength and hope" on line #26, "take hold of the gold" on line #29.
Theme: The central theme is that the author feels left out of the American Dream. He besides feels that it's true for other minorities and those who don't accept the coin, land, or power.
Tone: The tone is anger, with a picayune hope at the end.
Elizabeth on October 17, 2018:
I love this poem because it has hope and I like every stanza.
Leseana on April 17, 2017:
Iv'e always loved this verse form, I cited this poem is a regions speech competition. This poem speaks to my people. Every fourth dimension I read this verse form it brings emotion.
Madyson on Feb 26, 2017:
What does it hateful to draw a veil across the stars?
BOB on December 14, 2016:
Where are the sound devices, and the figurative language located in this poem?
Caleb on February xvi, 2016:
Thanks for the analysis homo. Really appreciate it.
Brandon from Houston, Texas on July 23, 2015:
Squeamish
BrotherFromAnotherMother on February 18, 2015:
very true
THAT GUY on January 27, 2015:
INSPIRING
Mylindaminka on April thirty, 2013:
К преимуществам щелочной химической завивки Относятся Прочные локоны (обычно держатся дольше); возможность обработки при комнатной температуре. Щелочную химическую завивку применяют для укладки волос, плохо поддающихся обработке, а также для того, чтобы получить тутой завиток, если прежде у клиента перманент получался слишком слабым.
Futamarka on March 31, 2013:
Плиты геля парик (эпиляционный, похотливый пенопарфюмсмех) применяются для теплодепиляции полов а, так же теплодепиляции полов специального назначения: Хотя часто приходится слышать, что цифры беспристрастны, мне кажется, что это не совсем так. Трудно не согласиться с тем, что цифры сами по себе не имеют эмоциональной окраски. А вот когда они становятся индексами каких-то характеристик, то их нейтральность часто улетучивается. Конечно же, мы реагируем не на цифры, а на то, что за ними стоит и на то, что стимулирует наши размышления и воображение. Здесь приведены данные из исследований, проводившихся в США за последние несколько лет.
PadaOthehal on March 08, 2013:
My partner and i accepted to receive high on living nevertheless recently We have accumulated the level of resistance.
Jovi Romeo on Baronial 25, 2012:
Greetings from Nigeria. Your analysis of Langston Hughes' poem is elucidatory and graphic.
romper20 (author) from California on June 22, 2012:
I am glad to help Kaya, thank you for the comment!
Kaya on May 21, 2012:
I am going to write some kind of a written test virtually langston hughes and his poems tomorrow and this really helped me to understand his intentions!
Hopefully this verse form is going to be the primary topic :D...
Thanks and greetz from deutschland.
romper20 (author) from California on April 27, 2012:
Cheers for the support i hope yous enjoyed and learned something today :D
mohammed on April 26, 2012:
nice, i liked it
lonnalove on April 17, 2012:
this was very insightful for me
romper20 (author) from California on April 03, 2012:
Thank you for the comments
Chris Andrews from Norwalk, Ohio on March 24, 2012:
Langston Hughes is i of my favorite poets. A swell interp. thank you for sharing information technology.
Derrick on Feb 29, 2012:
Give thanks you for your analysis of this poem. Yous gave a very true description of the writers thought. I really enjoyed it and all the other comments. Cheers.
romper20 (writer) from California on February 29, 2012:
Thanks anybody
JDJ on February 28, 2012:
Very nice
Annie from NewYork on Oct 23, 2011:
informative.. vote up
romper20 (writer) from California on September 17, 2011:
I appreciate the comments and yeah the poem really stands for itself.
MALAK on May 21, 2011:
LE AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN IS A POEM THAT SHOWS AMERICAN Club AS Information technology IS,It IS REALISTC DEPICTION OF AMERICAN'South Alive
Nebeolisa Okwudili on April 03, 2011:
A cute poem that all literature students should read, it contains every bit much exemplarry figurative expressions as you want, refining. I dearest it everytime I read information technology, doling more meanings afresh as I do.
P. Thorpe Christiansen from Pacific Northwest, USA on February 06, 2011:
Wonderful, I honey the poetry of Langston Hughes. Cracking hub.
romper20 (author) from California on November 13, 2010:
Petra your right, and thanks for taking the time to read it!
Petra Vlah from Los Angeles on Oct xvi, 2010:
I volition have to expect upwardly the poem, simply from your detailed account it seems that I would agree with well-nigh of the poet's views. I take experimented myself the "dream" and more than than in one case I was awakened by the nightmare of hypocrisy.
I tin't remember whatever other country in history that in merely 200 short years has caused more pain for its own people and the rest of the globe, while wrapping itself in slogans of democracy, justice and greatness'.
romper20 (author) from California on June 11, 2010:
Thanks Erik!
Erik on June 08, 2010:
Great work!
romper20 (author) from California on June 07, 2010:
Thank you then much Micky, its very true...
Romper20
Micky Dee on June 04, 2010:
Equality doesn't exist for too many of united states. Very dainty work! It'southward all true. Thank you!
Marker Chen on June 03, 2010:
Very nice thanks for sharing :)
I really enjoyed.
romper20 (writer) from California on May 24, 2010:
Very truthful Valerie, the fact that we are driven to expectations rather than humanity can be strain-vicious. We can always determine our paths and destinations.
valeriebelew from Metro Atlanta, GA, U.s.a. on May 20, 2010:
I found this interesting, and pretty much concur with the message of the poem. We put as well much focus on coin, and devalue most everything else. We behave as if anyone who is not financially successful is doing something wrong. Perchance some of us are more interested in other aspects of life than fabric possessions. The more nosotros judge people by financial means, the more greed will exist a trouble, considering people will want money in order to exist respected, likewise as for the things it tin can buy. Adept write. (: v
romper20 (author) from California on May 17, 2010:
I do write poesy :) I'll have more hubs coming soon. Thanks for your capeesh reply, it ways a lot. I'll check out a few of your hubs!
RomperHubber
Ben Evans on May 16, 2010:
Very interesting poem. I liked it and I appreciate your analysis. If you like poetry with a historic perspective, you may be interested in reading the Verse of Jose Rizal. He was a statesman from the Philippines and wrote around the late 1800'due south at a time the Philippines fought against spain for independence.
Do you write any poesy?
Source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Hughes-LangstonLetAmericaBeAmericaAgain
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