If you're looking for famous poems for National Poetry Month (or any month), try Langston Hughes. His musicality and voice make him one of the most beloved American poets. Here are a few of Langston Hughes' most famous poems.

The very first time I read Langston Hughes' work was an illustrated collection that I bought at a school book fair: Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes.

It was a beautiful, picture-book style collection with dynamic illustrations for twenty-six of Hughes' poems. Back then, I was  young and couldn't grasp poetry as a form yet, but the pictures kept me focused as I read. 

I'll admit that I didn't think of Langston Hughes (or any poet for that matter) again until middle school. I had joined a choir and learned a song titled “I Dream A World,” composed using a poem with the very same title. Even to this day, the lyrics have stuck with me alongside the melody. 

It's a poem that does as the title says: dreams of a world where all men can live in peace, love, and happiness, regardless of race. It's hope for the future, and it's the determination to one day get there. 

He has many great poems beyond just this one, both in optimistic voices and in more realistic, melancholic tones. I hope that you too find a favorite poem from Langston Hughes, as many of the struggles and themes he wrote about still resonate today. 

Who is Langston Hughes?

James Mercer Langston Hughes was a writer and a very prominent figure during the Harlem Renaissance. During his time, he was probably the most well known Black poet in the U.S., if not the world. 

He wrote poetry, short stories, literature, plays, and essays, many of which were about civil rights. He sought to write an honest portrayal of the lives of the Black working class, and he wrote in everyday language to reach as many people as possible. 

Hughes incorporated many aspects of Black culture into his work, writing poetry with characteristics from music like the blues, jazz, and spirituals. He wrote about their lives, their joys and sorrows, seeking to portray his community as genuinely as he could. 

He had a very colorful and varied life, having moved around to several different cities. He worked a variety of jobs such as a steward, busboy, cook, and more. He brought those aspects of his life into his writing, and created works full of heart and originality. 

He was raised by his mother and grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas, after his father left to find work elsewhere. He spent most of his youth with his grandmother, as his mother had to work several jobs to make ends meet. 

After his grandmother's death, he and his mother moved to at least six different cities before settling in Cleveland, where he graduated high school. He moved to New York in order to attend Columbia University after graduation, and it was there that he first discovered Harlem and developed his deep attachment to it. 

Sometime in the 1930s, he developed a deep sense of social justice. Hughes was very outspoken about desegregation and genuine equal social and political quality for all. 

He was regularly featured in African-American newspapers, churches, and community centers.

What is Langston Hughes' Legacy?

Primarily, we hear about Langston Hughes when learning about the Harlem Renaissance, which was a cultural and social movement to celebrate many aspects of Black culture. Music, fashion, art, literature, and other forms of self-expression were centralized in the Harlem neighborhood within New York City. 

It was a very important movement for the U.S. as a whole, as it amplified African Americans' voices to show that their culture was just as worthy and just as important as all other cultures in the U.S.

It gave them a chance to portray themselves as something other than the caricatures assigned to them, and it expanded cultural communities. 

Langston Hughes was an especially big part of that, because not only did he hold a big position in the writing field at the time, but he was also involved in the civil rights movement as a whole. 

It's important to study him because it's important to remember the people who come before us, who laid the foundation for the rights and privileges we have today. It's a chance to read and learn about cultures you aren't familiar with, and to gain new appreciation for other people. 

Though not to the extent that it was in Hughes' time, America still sees its fair share of inequality today, and it's important to reflect on both how far we've come and how far we still have to go. 

Langston Hughes' Most Famous Poems

Here are 10 of what I believe to be Hughes' most famous poems. 

Many of Hughes' poems could be argued to be the “best” or the “most powerful,” or “most impactful,” but I believe you should find those poems for yourself.

I'll simply give you a place to start your own search.

10. Life is Fine

“I went down to the river,
I sat down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollared!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold,
I might've sunk and died….”

Life continues on endlessly and always has. Hughes felt it in his day, that even when he was miserable, he kept on living. Life is “fine as wine,” he says, even in extreme circumstances. 

Many remember this poem even after only reading it once because it is a bit of a graphic poem (brief descriptions of suicide), but also because at the end of the day, the speaker goes on living. 

We find reasons to keep going even if everything seems like it's going wrong, because there's beauty in simply being alive.

9. The Weary Blues

“Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
            I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
            He did a lazy sway. . . .
            He did a lazy sway. . . .”

Hughes won first prize in a contest hosted by Opportunity magazine with this poem in 1925, and was awarded the title of the best poem of that year. It was also one of the first times he experimented with using motifs from music into his poetry which later became a defining point in all his work. 

This poem was later included in, and became the title of, his very first poetry collection that he published with Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. 

8. The Dream Keeper

“Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your 
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.”

Perhaps you've noticed from my choice of favorites, or from a few other poems on this list, but Hughes had a recurring theme of “dreams” in his poems. He firmly believed that you cannot live without dreams. Or at the very least, live a meaningful existence without dreams.

To this end, he believed poets to be “keepers” of these dreams. They immortalize the dreams people have in song-like verse.

7. Still Here

“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 loving', stop livin' —-
            But I don't care!
            I'm still here!”

This poem is one of his shorter ones, but it resonates with anyone who reads it. Everyone has felt at one point in their lives that, “Life is hard.” But all the same, we keep living. 

We struggle, we fail, we suffer. But at the end of the day, we still live and we still thrive. Hughes held the belief until the day of his death that America would one day be more equal. That people's lives, specifically Black lives, would one day be valued and respected just as much as others. 

6. The Negro Speaks of Rivers

“I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the 
            flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers. . . .”

This poem is one that sparked Hughes' writing career, as he wrote it while crossing the Mississippi River to go to Mexico and reunite with his father. He reflected on how even this river he was crossing had been there since before he existed. 

In a way, he wrote that our souls are connected to these ancient rivers, and we are connected to the past through them. There are certainly many interpretations of this poem, but it was described as one of the “anthems of Black America.” 

It's been reprinted many times and you'd find it in any collection, list, biography, or the like connected to Langston Hughes. It was considered one of his signature works. 

5. Mother to Son

“Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—. . .”

This is also among one of the “anthems of Black America,” written by Hughes. Martin Luther King Jr. himself referenced it in many of his speeches, so it's very well-known. 

He wrote it in such a way that you could hear it the way it was meant to be spoken. Perhaps the situation in this poem was an experience that many people also had, resulting in its popularity.

It speaks the sentiment that many of his poems did: that life is hard and full of challenges, but you must keep living anyway. 

4. Let America Be America Again

“Let American be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.) . . .”

I think this poem will speak to a lot of people today. It suggests the values and beliefs that America was supposedly founded upon and swore to protect were never upheld. 

The Declaration of Independence, which created the spark that built America's flame, states “all men are born equal,” with “inalienable rights.” Yet there is undoubtedly inequality in America, and many people did not have political rights until quite recently (within the last century!).

It was a belief that Hughes held during his time in the early 1900s, and it's a belief that many still hold today. It's a timeless poem. 

3. Dreams

“Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.”

This is one of Hughes' most famous poems, for the same reasons as “Dream Keepers.” Hughes believed life was meaningless without dreams. We live to dream and we dream to live. 

2. I, Too

“I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes…

This poem is what I believe to have encapsulated Hughes' true desire and belief: that one day blacks would stand shoulder to shoulder with whites, just as beautiful and just as respected. 

He wanted equality in America, both politically and socially. He wanted black people to be loved, and he wanted them to love themselves as well. Hughes wanted to let the world know that they, too, were also Americans and held equal claims to the freedoms and privileges the nation was founded on. 

1. Harlem

“What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat
Or crust and sugar over—
Like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?”

This poem is connected to the reason why we study Langston Hughes and why we study the Harlem Renaissance. To begin with, its title is “Harlem” which means it holds a natural connection to the time period as well as the Black community that surrounded Hughes.

One of the lines became the title for a play that you may have seen or read: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. It's about a man whose dreams are deferred, who chooses dignity and action by the end of the play.

“Harlem” was initially published among a collection of poems that were meant to be read in order, but it was so impactful that it's been read and remembered all by itself.

Explore Langston Hughes' Most Famous Poems

That was my list of Langston Hughes Top 10 most famous poems. I hope it's given you the incentive to go search out more of his work. 

It's important to read poems like these because it's not just about connecting to your culture or to a culture that's not yours. It's about reconnecting with history.

Sometimes learning about history from textbooks is boring (actually, that's most of the time!). But reading poems like this, or searching out other forms of art and literature from a time before your own, is also learning history. It's important to learn history because it's important to reflect on who we were, so that we can learn who we want to become and how we can get there. 

Looking for other poetry resources? Check out our article on Why Write Poetry or try this fun prompt on Found Poetry. 

What is your favorite poem by Langston Hughes? Let us know in the comments.