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.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
'Eat in the kitchen,'
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

© Random House, Inc., Vintage Classics, 1994/1995.

De dichtbundel bevat de onderstaande gedichten:
• ‘Abe Lincoln’; ‘Acceptance’; ‘Addition’ (2); ‘Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria’; ‘Advice’; ‘Aesthete in Harlem’; ‘Afraid’; ‘Africa’; ‘Afro-American Fragment’; ‘After Many Springs’; ‘Air Raid: Barcelona’; ‘Air Raid over Harlem’; ‘Alabama Earth’; ‘Always the Same’; ‘America’; ‘American Heartbreak’; ‘America’s Young Black Joe!’; ‘Angels Wings’; ‘Angola Question Mark’; ‘Anne Spencer’s Table’; ‘Announcement’; ‘April Rain Song’; ‘Ardella’; ‘Argument’ (2); ‘As Befits a Man’; ‘As I Grew Older’; ‘Ask Your Mama’ (2); ‘Aspiration’; ‘August 19th …’; ‘Aunt Sue’s Stories’; ‘Autumn Thought’; ‘Azikiwe in Jail’;
• ‘Baby’; ‘Backlash Blues’; ‘Bad Luck Card’; ‘Bad Man’; ‘Bad Morning’; ‘Ballad of Booker T.’; ‘Ballad of Gin Mary‘; ‘Ballad of Harry Moore‘; ‘Ballad of Little Sallie‘; ‘Ballad of Margie Polite, The‘; ‘Ballad of Mary’s Son‘; ‘Ballad of Negro History, A‘; ‘Ballad of Ozie Powell‘; ‘Ballad of Roosevelt‘; ‘Ballad of Sam Solomon‘; ‘Ballad of the Black Sheep‘; ‘Ballad of the Fool‘; ‘Ballad of the Fortune Teller‘; ‘Ballad of the Girl Whose Name Is Mud‘; ‘Ballad of the Gypsy‘; ‘Ballad of the Killer Boy‘; ‘Ballad of the Landlord‘; ‘Ballad of the Man Who’s Gone‘; ‘Ballad of the Miser‘; ‘Ballad of the Pawnbroker‘; ‘Ballad of the Seven Songs‘; ‘Ballad of the Sinner‘; ‘Ballad of the Two Thieves‘; ‘Ballad of Walter White‘; ‘Ballad of Lenin‘; ‘Bar’; ‘Barefoot Blues’; ‘Battle Ground’; ‘Beale Street’; ‘Beale Street Love’; ‘Beaumont to Detroit: 1943’; ‘Beauty’; ‘Be-Bop Boys’; ‘’Beggar Boy’; ‘Being Old’; ‘Bells Toll Kindly, The’; ‘Better’; ‘Bible Belt’; ‘Big Buddy’; ‘Big Sur’; ‘Big-Timer, The’; ‘Bird in Orbit’; ’Birmingham Sunday’; ‘Birth’; ‘Bitter Brew’; ‘Bitter River, The’; ‘Black Clown, The’; ‘Black Dancers’; ‘Black Gal’; ‘Black Man Speaks, The’; ‘Black Maria’; ‘Black Panther’; ‘Black Pierrot, A’; ‘Black Seed’; ‘Black Workers’; ‘Blind’; ‘Blue Bayou’; ‘Blue Monday’; ‘Blues, The’; ‘Blues at Dawn’; ‘Blues Fantasy’; ‘Blues in Stereo’; ‘Blues on a Box’; ‘Boarding House’; ‘Bombings in Dixie’; ‘Bonds for All’; ‘Bonds: In Memoriam’; ‘Boogie: 1 a.m.’; ‘Border Line’; ‘Bound No’th Blues’; ‘Bouquet’; ‘Brand New Clothes’; ‘Brass Spittoons’; ‘Breath of a Rose’; ‘Brief Encounter’; ‘Broadcast on Ethiopia’; ‘Broadcast to the West Indies’; ‘Broke’; ‘Brotherly Love’; ‘Bothers’; ‘Buddy’; ‘Bulwark’; ‘Burden’;
• ‘Cabaret’; ‘Cabaret Girl Dies on Welfare Island’; ‘Café: 3 a.m.’; ‘Call of Ethiopia’; ‘Call to Creation’; ‘Caribbean Sunset’; ‘Carol of the Brown King’; ‘Carolina Cabin’; ‘Casual’; ‘Casualty’; ‘Cat and the Saxophone (2 a.m.), The’; ‘Catch’; ‘Change’; ‘Chant for May Day’; ‘Chant for Tom Mooney’; ‘Chicago’; ‘Chicago Blues’; ‘Children’s Rhymes’; ‘Chippy’; ‘Chord’; ‘Christ in Alabama’; ‘Christian Country, A’; ‘Christmas Eve: Nearing Midnight in New York’; ‘Christmas Story, The’; ‘Circles’; ‘City’; ‘Closing Time’; ‘College Formal: Renaissance Casino’; ‘Color’; ‘Colored Soldier, The’; ‘Columbia’; ‘Comment’; ‘Comment on Curb’; ‘Comment on War’; ‘Communion’; ‘Communiqué’; ‘Conservatory Student Struggles with Higher Instrumentation’; ’Consider Me’; ‘Consumptive, The’; ‘Convent’; ‘Cora’; ‘Corner Meeting’; ‘Could Be’; ‘Country’; ‘Crap Game’; ‘Croon’; ‘Cross’; ‘Crossing’; ‘Crow Goes, Too’; ‘’Crowing Hen Blues’; ‘Crowns and Garlands’; ‘Cubes’; ‘Cultural Exchange’; ‘Curious’;
• ‘Dancer’; ‘Dancers’; ‘Danse Africaine’; ‘Dare’; ‘Dark Youth of the U.S.A.’; ‘Day’; ‘Daybreak in Alabama’; ‘Dead in There’; ‘Dear Lovely Death’; ‘Dear Mr. President’; ‘Death in Africa’; ‘Death in Harlem’; ‘Death in Yorkville’; ‘Death of an Old Seaman’; ‘Death of Do Dirty: A Rounder’s Song’; ‘Deceased’; ‘Declaration’; ‘Deferred’; ‘Delinquent’; ‘Demand’; ‘Demonstration’; ‘Departure’; ‘Desert’; ‘Desire’; ‘Dime’; ‘Dimout in Harlem’; ‘Dinner Guest: Me’; ‘Disillusion’; ‘Dive’; ‘Dixie Man to Uncle Sam’; ‘Dixie South Africa’; ‘Do You Reckon?’; ‘doorknobs’; ‘Dove, The’; ‘Down and Out’; ‘Down Where I Am’; ‘Draftees’; ‘Drama for Winter Night (Fifth Avenue)’; ‘Dream’; ‘Dream Boogie’; ‘Dream Boogie: Variation’; ‘Dream Dust’; ‘Dream Keeper, The’; ‘Dream of Freedom’; ‘Dream Variations’; ‘Dreamer’; ‘Dreams’; ‘Dressed up’; ‘Drum’; ‘Drums’; ‘Drunkard’; ‘Dusk’; ‘Dustbowl’; Dying Beast’;
• ‘Early Evening Quarrel’; ‘Earth Song’; ‘Easy Boogie’; ‘Elderly Leaders’; ‘Elevator Boy’; ‘Emperor Haile Selassie’; ‘Empty House’; ‘Encounter’; ‘End’’; ‘Enemy’; ‘English, The’; ‘Ennui’; ‘Envoy to Africa’; ‘Epitaph’ (2); ‘Evenin’, Air Blues’; ‘Evening Song’’; ‘Evil’; ‘Evil Morning’; ‘Evil Woman’; ‘Exits’; ‘Expendable’; ‘Explain It, Please’;
• ’Fact’; ‘Fairies’; ‘Faithful One’; ‘Fantasy in Purple’; ‘Farewell, A’; ‘Fascination’’; ‘Feet o’ Jesus’; ‘50-50’; ‘Final Call’; ‘Final Curve’; ‘Fire’; ‘Fire-Caught’; ‘Fired’; ‘First of May’; ‘Flatted Fifths’; ‘Flight’; ‘Florida Road Workers’; ‘Flotsam’; ‘Fog’; ‘For an Indian Screen’; ‘For Dead Mimes’; ‘For Russell and Rowena Jelliffe’; ‘For Salome’; ‘Formula’; ‘Fortune Teller Blues’; ‘403 Blues’; ‘Fourth of July Thought’; ‘Fragments’; ‘Frederick Douglass: 1817-1895’; ‘Free Man’; ‘Freedom’ (3); ‘Freedom Seeker’; ‘Freedom Train’; ‘Freedom’s Plough’; ‘Friendly in a Friendly Way’; ‘From Selma’; ‘From Spain to Alabama’; ‘Frosting’; ‘Fulfillment’; ‘Funeral’;
• ‘Gal’s Cry for a Dying Lover’; ‘Gangsters’; ‘Garden’; ‘Garment’; ‘Gauge’; ‘Genius Child’; ‘Georgia Dusk’; ‘Get up off That Old Jive’; ‘Gandhi Is Fasting’; ‘Ghosts of 1619’; ‘Girl’; ‘Give Us Our Peace’; ‘Go Slow’; ‘God’; ‘God to Hungry Child’; ‘Gods’; ‘Gone Boy’; ‘Good Bluffers’; ‘Good Morning’; ‘Good Morning, Stalingrad’; ‘Good Morning Revolution’; ‘Goodbye Christ’; ‘Gospel Cha-Cha’; ‘Governor Fires Dean’; ‘Graduation’; ‘Grandpa’s Stories’; Grant Park’; ‘Grave Yard’; ‘Green Memory’; ‘Grief’; ‘Grocery Store’; ‘Gypsies’; ‘Gypsy Man’; ‘Gypsy Melodies’;
• ‘Hard Daddy’; ‘Hard Luck’; ‘Harlem’ (2)’; ‘Harlem Dance Hall’; ‘Harlem Night’; ‘Harlem Night Club’; ‘Harlem Night Song’; ‘Harlem Sweeties’; ‘Havana Dreams’; ‘Heart’; ‘Heart of Harlem, The’; ‘Heaven’; ‘Helen Keller’’; ‘Hero-International Brigade’; ‘Hey!’; ‘Hey! Hey!’; ‘Hey-Hey Blues’; ‘High to Low’; ‘History’; ‘Homecoming’; ‘Homesick Blues’; ‘Honey Babe’; ‘Hope’ (2); ‘Hope for Harlem’; ‘Horn of Plenty’; ‘House in Taos, A’; ‘House in the World’; ‘How about It, Dixie’; ‘How Thin a Blanket’; ‘Hurt’;
• ‘I, Too’; ‘I Dream of a World’; ‘I Thought It Was Tangiers I Wanted’; ‘If You Would’; ‘If-ing’; ‘Imagine’; ‘Impasse’; ‘In a Troubled Key’; ‘In Explanation of Our Times’; ‘In the Mist of the Moon’; ‘In Time of Silver Rain’; ‘Interne at Provident’; ’Irish Wake’; ‘Is It True?’; ‘Island’ (2); ‘It Gives Me Pause’;
• ‘Jaime’; ‘Jam Session’; ‘Jazz Band in a Parisian Cabaret‘; ‘Jazz Girl’; ‘Jazzonia’; ‘Jazztet Muted’; ‘Jester, The’; ‘Jim Crow Car’; ‘Jim Crow’s Last Stand’; ‘Jitney’; ‘Joe Louis’ (2); ‘Johannesburg Mines’; ‘Joy’; ‘Judge William Hastie’; ‘Judgement Day’; ‘Juice Joint: Northern City’; ‘Juke Box Love Song’; ‘Juliet’; ‘Junior Addict’; ‘Just an Ordinary Guy’; ‘Justice’;
• ‘Kid in the Park’; ‘Kid Sleepy’; ‘Kids in School with Me, The’; ‘Kids Who Die’; ‘Ku Klux’;
• ‘Labor Storm’; ‘Lady in Cabaret’; ‘Lady’s Boogie’; ‘Lament for Dark Peoples’; ‘Lament of a Vanquished Beau, The’; ‘Lament over Love’; ‘Last Call’; ‘Last Feast of Belshazzar, The’; ‘Last Man Living, The’; ‘Last Prince of the East’; ‘Late Corner’; ‘Late Last Night’; ‘Laughers’; ‘Lenin’; ‘Lenox Avenue Bar’; ‘Lenox Avenue: Midnight’; ‘Let American Be American Again’; ‘Letter’; ‘Letter from Spain’; ‘Letter to Anne, A’; ‘Letter to the Academy’; ‘Liars’; ‘Life Is Fine’; ‘Likewise’; ‘Lincoln Monument: Washington’; ‘Lincoln Theatre’; ‘Lincoln University: 1954’; ‘Liner Notes’; ‘Listen Here Blues’; ‘Little Cats’; ‘Little Green Tree’; ‘Little Lyric’; ‘Little Old Letter’; ‘Little Song’; ‘Little Song on Housing’; ‘Live and Let Live’; ‘Lonely Nocturne’; ‘Lonesome Corner’; ‘Lonesome Place’; ‘Long Trip’; ‘Long View: Negro’; ‘Lover’; ‘Love Again Blues’; ‘Love Song for Antonia’; ‘Love Song for Lucinda’; ‘Lover’s Return’; ‘Low to High’; ‘Luck’; ‘Lullaby’; ‘Lumumba’s Grave’; ‘Lynching Song’;
• ‘Ma Lord’; ‘Ma Man’; ‘Madam and Her Madam’; ‘Madam and Her Might-Have-Been‘; ‘Madam and the Army‘; ‘Madam and the Census Man‘; ‘Madam and the Charity Child‘; ‘Madam and the Crime Wave‘; ‘Madam and the Fortune Teller‘; ‘Madam and the Insurance Man‘; ‘Madam and the Minister‘; ‘Madam and the Movies‘; ‘Madam and the Newsboy‘; ‘Madam and the Number Writer‘; ‘Madam and the Phone Bill‘; ‘Madam and the Rent Man‘; ‘Madam and the Wrong Visitor‘; ‘Madam’s Calling Cards‘; ‘Madam’s Christmas‘ (aka ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’); ‘Madam’s Past History‘; ‘Madrid‘; ‘Magnolia Flowers‘; ‘Mama and Daughter’; ‘Mammy’; ‘Man’; ‘Man into Men’; ‘March Moon’; ‘Maybe’; ‘Mazie Dies Alone in the City Hospital’; ‘Me and My Song’; ‘Me and the Mule’; ‘Mean Old Yesterday’; ‘Mellow’; ‘Memo to Non-White Peoples’; ‘Merry Christmas’; ‘Merry-Go-Round’; ‘Message to the President’; ‘Metropolitan Museum’; ‘Mexican Market Woman’; ‘Midnight Chippie’s Lament’; ‘Midnight Dancer’; ‘Midnight Raffle’; ‘Midwinter Blues’; ‘Migrant’; ‘Migration’; ‘Militant’; ‘Minnie Sings Her Blues’; ‘Minstrel Man’; ‘Misery’; ‘Miss Blues’es Child’; ‘Mississippi’; ‘Mississippi Levee’; ‘Mister Sandman’; ‘Mitchell Case, The’; ‘Moan’; ‘Monotony’; ‘Monroe’s Blues’; ‘Montage of a Dream Deferred’; ‘Montmartre’; ‘Moonlight in Valencia: Civil War’; ‘Moonlight Night: Carmel’; ‘Morning After’; ‘Moscow’; ‘Mother in Wartime’; ‘Mother to Son’; ‘Motherland’; ‘Motto’; ‘Movies’; ‘Mulatto’; ‘My Beloved’; ‘My Loves’; ‘My People’; ‘Mystery’;
• ‘NAACP’; ‘Natcha’; ‘Naughty Child, The’; ‘Necessity’; ‘Negro’; ‘Negro Dancers’; ‘Negro Ghetto’; ‘Negro Mother, The’; ‘Negro Servant’; ‘Negro Speaks of Rivers, The’; ‘Neighbor’; ‘Neon Signs’; ‘New Cabaret Girl, The’; ‘New Flowers’; ‘New Moon’; ‘New Song, A’; ‘New Year’; ‘New Yorkers’; ‘Night: Four Songs’; ‘Night Funeral in Harlem’; ‘Night Song’; ‘Nightmare Boogie’; ‘No Regrets’; ‘Nocturne for the Drums’; ‘Nonette’; ‘Northern Liberal’; ‘Not a Movie’; ‘Not Else – But’; ‘Not Often’; ‘Not What Was’; ‘Note in Music’; ‘Note on Commercial Theatre’; ‘Note to All Nazi Fascists and Klansmen’; ‘Nude Young Dancer’; ‘Number’; ‘Numbered’; ‘Numbers’;
• October 16: The Raid’; ‘Ode to Dinah’; ‘Office Building Evening’; ‘Official Notice’; ‘Old Age’; ‘Old Dog Queenie’; ‘Old Sailor’; ‘Old Walt’; ‘Old Youth’; ‘On a Christmas Night’; ‘On a Pallet of Straw’; ‘One’; ‘125th Street’; ‘One More ‘S’ in the U.S.A.’; ‘One-Way Ticket’; ‘Only Woman Blues’; ‘Open Letter to the South’; ‘Oppression’; ‘Our Land’; ‘Out of Work’;
• ‘Pair in One’; ‘Pale Lady’; ‘Parade’; ‘Parisian Beggar Woman’; ‘Park Bench’; ‘Park Benching’; ‘Passing’’; ‘Passing Love’; ‘Pastoral’; ‘Pathological Puzzle’; ‘Peace’; ‘Peace Conference in an American Town’; ‘Pennsylvania Station’; ‘Personal’; ‘Ph.D.’; ‘Pictures to the Wall’; ‘Pierrot’; ‘Piggy-Back’; ‘Plaint’; ‘Po’ Boy Blues’; ‘Poem’ (4); ‘Poem for an Intellectual on the Way up to Submit to His Lady‘; ‘Poem for Youth‘; ‘Poem to a Dead Soldier‘; ‘Poem to Uncle Sam‘; ‘Poem d’Automne‘; ‘Poet to Bigot’; ‘Poet to Patron’; ‘Poor Girl’s Ruination’; ‘Poor Rover’; ‘Poppy Flower’; ‘Port Town’; ‘Porter’; ‘Postcard from Spain’; ‘Prayer’ (2)’; ‘Prayer for a Winter Night’; ‘Prayer Meeting’; ‘Preference’’; ‘Prelude to Our Age’; ‘Present’; ‘Prime’; ‘Prize Fighter’; ‘Problems’; ‘Projection’; ‘Promised Land’; ‘Puzzlement’;
• ‘Question’ (2); ’Question and Answer’;
• ‘Raid’; ‘Railroad Avenue’; ‘Reasons Why’; ‘Red Clay Blues’; ‘Red Cross’; ‘Red Roses’; ‘Red Silk Stockings’; ‘Refugee’; ‘Relief’; ‘Remembrance’; ‘Rent-Party Shout for a Lady Dancer’; ‘Request’; ‘Request for Requiems’; ‘Restrictive Covenants’; ‘Return to Sea’; ‘Reverie on the Harlem River’; ‘Revolution’; ‘Ride, Red, Ride’; ‘Ring, The’; ‘Rising Waters’; ‘Roar China!’; ‘Room’; ‘Ruby Brown’; ‘Ruined Gal, A’;
• ‘Sailing Date’; ‘Sailor’; ‘Salute to Soviet Armies’; ‘Same in Blues’; ‘Saturday Night’; ‘Scottsboro’; ‘Sea Calm’; ‘Sea Charm’; ‘Search’; ‘Seascape’; ‘Seashore through Dark Glasses (Atlantic City)’; ‘Second Generation: New York’; ‘Seven Moments of Love’; ‘Shades of Pigment’; ‘Shadows’; ‘Shakespeare in Harlem’; ‘Shall the Good Go Down?’; ‘Shame on You’; ‘Share-Croppers’; ‘Shearing Time’; ‘Shepherd’s Song at Christmas’; ‘Shout’; ‘Show Fare, Please’; ‘Sick Room’; ‘Signs of Spring’; ‘Silence’; ‘Silent One’; ‘Silhouette’; ‘Silly Animals’; ‘Sinner’; ‘Sister’; ‘Sister Johnson Marches’; ‘Situation’; ‘Six-Bits Blues’; ‘Slave’; ‘Slave Song’; ‘Sleep’; ‘Sliver’; ‘Sliver of Sermon’; ‘Slum Dreams’; ‘Small Memory’; ‘Snail’; ‘Snake’; ‘Snob’; ‘So Long’; ‘So Tired Blues’; ‘Soledad’; ‘Some Day’; ‘Song’; ‘Song after Lynching’; ‘Song for a Banjo Dance’; ‘Song for a Dark Girl’; ‘Song for Billie Holiday’; ‘Song for Ourselves’; ‘Song of Adoration’; ‘Song of Spain‘; ‘Song of the Refugee Road’; ‘Song of the Revolution’; ‘Song to a Negro Wash-woman, A’; ‘Songs’; ‘Songs to the Dark Virgin’; ‘South, The’; ‘Southern Mammy Sings’; ‘Southern Negro Speaks’; ‘Speaking of Food’; ‘Special Bulletin’; ‘Spirituals’; ‘Sport’; ‘Spring for Lovers’; ‘S-sss-ss-sh!’; ‘Stalingrad: 1942’; ‘Star Seeker’; ‘Stars’; ‘Statement’; ‘Steel Mills’; ‘Still Here’; ‘Stokely Malcolm Me’; ‘Stony Lonesome’; ‘Strange Hurt’; ‘Stranger in Town’; ‘Street Song’; ‘Suburban Evening’; ‘Subway Face’; ‘Subway Rush Hour’; ‘Success’; ‘Suicide’; ‘Suicide’s Note’; ‘Summer Evening (Calumet Avenue)’; ‘Summer Night’; ‘Sun Song’; ‘Sunday by the Combination’; ‘Sunday Morning Prophecy’; ‘Sunset – Coney Island’; ‘Sunset in Dixie’; ‘Sweet Words on Race’; ‘Sylvester’s Dying Bed’;
• ‘Tag’; ‘Tambourines’; ‘Tapestry’; ‘Teacher’; ‘Tell Me’; ‘Testament’; ‘Testimonial’; ‘Thanksgiving Time’; ‘The Jesus’; ‘Theme for English B’; ‘There’; ‘There’s Always Weather’; ‘Third Degree’; ‘This Puzzles Me’; ‘Thorn, The’; ‘Tired’; ‘To a Dead Friend’; ‘To a Little Lover-lass, Dead’; ‘To Artina’; ‘To Be Somebody’; ‘To Beauty’; ‘To Captain Mulzac’; ‘To Certain Brothers’; ‘To Certain Intellectuals’; ‘To Certain Negro Leaders’; ‘To Dorothy Maynor’; ‘To Make Words Sing’; ‘To Midnight Nan at Leroy’s’; ‘To the Dark Mercedes of El Palacio de Amor’; ‘To the Little Fort of San Lazaro on the Ocean Front, Havana’; ‘To You’; ‘Today’; ‘Tomorrow’; ‘Tomorrow’s Seed’; ‘Too Blue’; ‘Total War’; ‘Tower’; ‘Town of Scottsboro, The’; ‘Trip: San Francisco’; ‘Troubled Water’; ‘Troubled Woman’; ‘Trumpet Player’; ’12 Moods for Jazz’; ‘Two Somewhat Different Epigrams; ‘Two Things’;
• ‘Ultimatum’; ‘Ultimatum: Kid to Kid’; ‘Un-American Investigators’; ‘Uncle Tom’ (2); ‘Underground, The’; ‘Undertow’; ‘Union’; ‘Up-Beat’; ‘Us: Colored’;
• ‘Vagabonds’; ‘Vari-Colored Song’; ‘Visitors to the Black Belt’;
• ‘Wait’; ‘Wake’; ‘Walkers with the Dawn’; ‘War’; ‘Warning’; ‘Warning: Augmented’; ‘Watch out, Papa’; ‘Water-Front Streets’; ‘Ways’; ‘We, Too’; ‘Wealth’; ‘Weary Blues, The’; ‘We’re All in the Telephone Book’; ‘West Texas’; ‘What?; ‘What I Think’; ‘What? So Soon!’; ‘When Sue Wears Red’; ‘When the Armies Passed’; ‘Where Service Is Needed’; ‘Where? When? Which?’; ‘White Man’; ‘White Ones, The’; ‘Who but the Lord’; ‘Wide River’; ‘Widow Woman’; ‘Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too’; ‘Wine-O’; ‘Winter Moon’; ‘Winter Sweetness’; ‘Wisdom’; ‘Wisdom and War’; ‘Wise Man’; ‘Without Benefit of Declaration’; ‘Wonder’; ‘Wooing’; ‘Words like Freedom’; ‘Workin’ Man’; ‘World War II’; ‘Worriation’;
• ‘Year Round’; ‘Yesterday and Today’; ‘Young Bride’; ‘Young Gal’s Blues’; ‘Young Negro Girl’; ‘Young Prostitute’; ‘Young Sailor’; ‘Young Singer’; ‘Youth’.

ERK Niveau:

B2

Schrijver:

Langston Hughes

Jaar van uitgave:

1994

Aantal pagina's:

715

Tijd waarin het verhaal zich afspeelt:

1920-1970

Plaats van handeling:

USA, meerdere plaatsen.

Bijzonderheden:

Een bundel met daarin alle gedichten van Langson Hughes.

IS HET BOEK VOOR JOU INTERESSANT?

‘The Collected Poems’ bevat gedichten over discriminatie en ongelijkheid. Het is daarmee een ernstige aanklacht tegen de ongelijkheid in de (blanke) Amerikaanse samenleving. Een aanklacht die vandaag de dag nog altijd actueel is. Helaas …

WAT MOET JE WETEN?

‘The Collected Poems’ geeft een overzicht van de tijd waarin de dichter leefde. Donkere Amerikanen werden regelmatig gediscrimineerd en het was moeilijk om goed huisvesting, voedsel of banen te krijgen. Langston Hughes spreekt zich daar vaak over uit en hij spreekt alle Amerikanen – van welke kleur dan ook – aan om te handelen: geef ieder mens dezelfde kansen …

DE TAAL

De taal van ‘The Collected Poems’ is nergens moeilijk. Mr. Hughes schreef voor elke lezer en zijn woorden zijn dan ook de woorden van de gewone man of vrouw.
De gedichten zijn vaak kort. Ze rijmen zo nu en dan. Het metrum is vaak heel helder.

DE TAAL EN HET VERHAAL

Qua taal is de bundel zeer toegankelijk. De taal is heel begrijpelijk en meestal heel eenvoudig.
Dat geldt zeker ook voor de gedichten zelf. Ze zijn heel beschrijvend en ze lijken vaak de lezer te willen aanzetten om iets te gaan doen: partij kiezen, iets ondernemen, zich uitspreken tegen misstanden (zoals discriminatie).
Op basis van deze eigenschappen is ‘The Collected Poems’ een boek met een literair niveau C 4c en een taal-(ERK-)niveau B2.

Schrijfstijl:

De meeste gedichten zijn heel simpel geschreven. In gewone spreektaal – en daarmee heel toegankelijk en indringend.

Actie:

‘The Collected Poems’ bevat gedichten met redelijk veel actie – of het oproepen daartoe.

Tijd:

De gebeurtenissen in de roman spelen zich af in de jaren 1920-1970.

Plaats:

De setting van ‘The Collected Poems’ is voornamelijk de USA, zowel de steden als het platteland.

Verhaallijn:

Er zijn veel verschillende verhaallijnen in ‘The Collected Poems’.

Verteller:

De bundel heeft ik-vertellers en auctoriale vertellers.

Hoofdkarakters:

De hoofdkarakters in ‘The Collected Poems’ zijn:
• De ik-verteller, de dichter;
• De Afro-Amerikaanse medeburger, de onderdrukte;
• De blanke Amerikaan, de onderdrukker;
• Geliefden en familieleden van de dichter.

Bijfiguren:

De belangrijkste bijfiguren in ‘The Collected Poems’ zijn:
• Andere karakters: politici, machthebbers, ‘gewone’ mensen.

Website:

https://www.biography.com/news/langston-hughes-poems

Film:

De gedichten uit ‘The Collected Poems’ zijn niet verfilmd.

Overig:

‘The Collected Poems’ is een bundel met de verzamelde gedichten van Langston Hughes. De gedichten zijn chronologisch ingedeeld, per decennium, waarbij in de laatste hoofdstukken losse, niet-gebundelde gedichten, gedichten voor kinderen en fragmenten staan.

Link naar pagina over auteur

-->Informatie over Langston Hughes.

Leessuggesties:

Als je dit een mooi boek vond, zou je ook kunnen lezen:
• The Hawk in the Rain van Ted Hughes
• Come on Everybody van Adrian Mitchell
• The Complete Poems van Walt Whitman

Citaat:

Democracy

Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.

I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.

I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.

Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.

I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you. (p.432)

Vragen over het boek:

Analyseer de onderstaande gedichten:
1. ‘I, Too’
2. ‘Democracy’
3. ‘Evil Woman’
4. ‘Letter to the South’