Vanessa Chung, Melissa Feriozzo, Sofia Ferreyro-Mazieres Langston Hughes Vanessa Chung, Melissa Feriozzo, Sofia Ferreyro-Mazieres

Langston Hughes Birth: February 1, 1902. Place of Birth: Joplin, Missouri. Ethnicity: African American Education: White school in Topeka, KS Death: May 22, 1967.

Langston Hughes Honors and Awards: - A leading runner and high jumper - In 1921, he published his first poem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, in Crisis magazine. - In May 1925 his first book was The Weary Blues: it got first place in poetry. - In 1967, his last book of poetry, The Panther and the Lash, was published.

Langston Hughes Interesting Facts: - In 1925, Hughes showed his work to American poet Vachel Lindsay. The following day, the media identified him as the "busboy poet." - Hughes wrote the lyrics for the 1947 opera Street Scene.

Love Song for Lucinda Love Is a ripe plum Growing on a purple tree.   Love Is a ripe plum Growing on a purple tree. Taste it once And the spell of its enchantment Will never let you be. Is a bright star Glowing in far Southern skies. Look too hard And its burning flame Will always hurt your eyes. Is a high mountain Stark in a windy sky. If you Would never lose your breath Do not climb too high. Love Song for Lucinda The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes - 1994.

Theme - Love is bittersweet: enchanting, but hurtful - The speaker is talking from his own experience with love - Love can be kind, yet also painful - Take chances with love, because it will reward you, but be careful because love can be dangerous - Don’t look too hard for love, but let it come to you

Lines That Show Theme - Taste it once And the spell of its enchantment Will never let you be. - Look too hard And its burning flame Will always hurt your eyes. - If you Would never lose your breath Do not climb too high.

Figurative Language - Love is compared to different objects in each stanza - metaphors - The readers can grasp a better understanding of love through the use of examples - There are three different analogies of love, that show it can be sweet, hurtful, and dangerous - Metaphors help portray the theme in this poem because the author shows how different three objects are, yet they can all represent love - Figurative language helps enhance the theme by directly comparing love to inanimate items

Lines That Show Figurative Language - Love Is a ripe plum - Love Is a bright star - Love Is a high mountain

Imagery Use of vivid or figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. In this poem, Langston Hughes allows us to visualize and picture the different thoughts he is feeling. Imagery is used for a reader to feel the poem, not just understand it. Enhances the theme by: Putting images into the reader’s mind so they can imagine the setting and tone more clearly.

Imagery Examples “Growing on a purple tree.” makes poem come more alive because we are able to picture this tree growing out of the ground with a different appearance since it is purple. “High Mountain, stark in a windy sky.” This example allows us to see images of the mountains and feel the wind blowing across our face. “bright star, glowing in far southern skies” allows us to picture a beautiful shining star looking down at us from the sky, but then he writes “and it’s burning flame,” which switches our image to a painful, flaming fire. This demonstrates that love can be beautiful but it can also hurt you or cause pain in your heart if you get too attached.

Figures Of Sound Rhyme: this poem is a free verse poem, therefore there is no set rhyme pattern, but when read aloud, you can hear the rhyme between each line, for example, Growing on a purple tree / Will never let you be. An interesting figure of sound that is discovered when this poem is read out loud, is that Langston Hughes wanted you to read the end of the poem as if you were out of breath: “If you Would never lose your breath Do not climb too high.”

Figures Of Sound Consonance: windy sky

Goodbye My Lover - James Blunt 'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun, Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won. So I took what's mine by eternal right. Took your soul out into the night. It may be over but it won't stop there, I am here for you if you'd only care. You touched my heart you touched my soul. You changed my life and all my goals. And love is blind and that I knew when, My heart was blinded by you.

Works Cited “Langston Hughes.” Encarta. 21 Jan. 2005. http://encarta.msn.com/media_461577250_761556401_-1_1/Langston_Hughes_Quick_Facts.html “Langston Hughes.” Books and Writers. 2003. 21 Jan. 2005. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/lhughes.htm