Langston Hughes: A Biography

"I dream a world where man

No other man will scorn

Where love will bless the earth

And peace its path adorn"

Hughes, I Dream a World, 1937

When one mentions the Harlem Renaissance, the name Langston Hughes reverberates as one of the most prominent writer of the era. "He was perhaps the most original of African American poets and, in the breadth and variety of his work, assuredly the most representative of African American writers" (James Hart 201). His African American heritage sets the foundation for most of his works, including The Negro Speaks of Rivers, which literary critics had thoroughly and deliberately discussed in its entirety.

Born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902, the young Langston Hughes grew up with his maternal grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas (Bloom 189). With his Indian, French and African heritage, Hughes learned in his early age of his ancestors who fought rigorously to end slavery and racial injustice. He went to the controversial Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas as well as managing Columbia University afterward (Bloom 190). Exposed to Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman in his early teens, Hughes successfully published several poems in his university literary magazine Crisis. After college, he ventured out on his own and immediately received respect fro Harlem Renaissance's W.E.B Du Bois and Claude Mckay. Poet Countee Cullen became his close friend. Langston Hughes went to Lincoln University near Philadelphia, hoping to get his Masters in English. In 1926, at only 24, he published his first book of poetry, The Weary Blue (Bloom 193).

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E.E Cummings: Poet, Philosopher, Thinker

E.E Cummings, a successful and immortal poet of the 19th century, has once proclaimed "...artist, a man, a failure is a naturally and miraculously whole human being, whose only happiness is to transcend himself, whose every agony is to grow" (Unger 428). The spontaneity of trying to change oneself implicates the standard of transcendentalism, Cummings' most common theme and style encrypted in his works. His father, the main supporter of most of his decisions, played an important part in molding the young Estlin into one of the most prolific poet of all time.

Edward Estlin Cummings, son of Reverend Edward Cummings and Rebecca Haswell Clarke Cummings, sprung into this world on October 14, 1894 at Cambridge, Massachusetts (Unger 429). Young Estlin grew up in a cozy and familial house on Irving Street, for the Reverend has arranged for close relatives to surround his son, chiefly to promote inspiration for Cummings. Contrary to traditional belief, Estlin, with his father's approval and encouragement, began to express his interests by drawing, sketching and making notes and observations in a journal. As early as nine years old, Cummings has comprised countless sketches and beautiful poetry pieces. His conducive childhood experience had better prepared him for the prosperous academic achievements later on. Harvard accepted such a phenomenal talent. While in college, Estlin challenged the traditional literary style of his professors, Ludicrously experimenting with form, content and diction, Estlin subjectively turned in assignments that he intended to shock and appall readers. Explicit mention of women's breasts, a repercussion of his time in Boston's strip clubs, appeared in his articles in Harvard's literary magazines. Cummings finally emerged from Harvard with a Masters Degree in English and Classical Studies. Although Estlin's rebellion in college strained his relationship with his father, the Reverend still remained Cummings' strongest foothold and support.

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