"MOTHER TO SON" LANGSTON HUGHES
RECITES FAMOUS HARLEM RENAISSANCE POEM
38,117 views•Jun 12, 2016
TIM GRACYK
2.89K subscribers
Mother To Son
By Langston Hughes
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—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
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Background:
"Mother to Son" is a product of the Harlem Renaissance.
The Harlem Renaissance refers to an explosion among the arts--poems,
paintings, music, novels--produced by African Americans.
It started around World War I and ended in the 1930s. The 1920s was its heyday.
This is free verse. It does not
have a sonnet structure. It does not
rhyme. It has no regular rhythm like iambic.
I like the way “bare” stands alone in one line. The word “bare” is bare--or the line is bare.
This poem is a great example of a dramatic monologue. The poet created a character--it is not the
poet speaking for himself.
It is almost as if a boy had earlier said, "Life should be a
crystal staircase," and this poem is the mother's response. But is this realistic? No boy would think to say life should be a
crystal staircase!
Maybe the boy said, "Life is rough," and the mother is the one
who made up the glass stair metaphor.
I marvel that the mother never promises that life will be better in the
future. She only says to keep
going. Don't expect rewards!
Grateful thanks to TIM GRACYK and YouTube and all the others who made this video possible
