Suicide’s Note
The calm,
Cool face of the river
Asked me for a kiss.
Langston Hughes
Most common moods
Poems
Fantasy in Purple
Beat the drums of tragedy for me.
Beat the drums of tragedy and death.
And let the choir sing a stormy song
To drown the rattle of my dying breath.
Beat the drums of tragedy for me,
And let the white violins whir thin and slow,
But blow one blaring trumpet note of sun
To go with me
to the darkness
where I go.
Biography
Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, and columnist born in Joplin, Missouri. He was active during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. His poetry often drew on the rhythms of blues and jazz and used vernacular speech to portray working-class African American experience. Common themes included racial pride, resilience, and the realities of segregation and economic hardship. He published his first collection, The Weary Blues, in 1926. Later works such as Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951) extended his use of jazz forms and addressed postwar urban life. He also wrote fiction, essays, and the popular "Simple" stories featuring the character Jesse B. Semple. Through his prolific output and engagement with social issues, he became a widely read American poet of the twentieth century.
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