Beauty in crisis: The imagery and figurative language in ‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes
The poem ‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes is a free verse poem written by African American poet Langston Hughes. The poem is written from the perspective of an African American mother addressing her son with reflections on the challenges she has faced as an African American. Despite the challenges, hardships and struggles of her past, she entreats her son to continue progressing forward and to face the trials of life with resilience and fortitude. Imagery and figurative language play a key role in portraying the hardships faced by African American communities. Through the free verse structure, line breaks, and syntax, the poet conveys an atmosphere of tension coupled with a sombre, reflective mood that reflects the challenges that African Americans face, and the determination with which they face their challenges from generation to generation.
The poem’s free verse structure provides a sense of tension to the poem, and reflects the chaotic and disorderly nature of the African-American mother’s life. There is no regular structure or rhyme scheme, with the mother’s reflections on the hardships and suffering in her life framed in free verse. Hence, when the mother reflects that ‘but all the time, I’se been a-climbin’ on, and reachin’ landin’s, and turnin’ corners’, the audience is able to sense a genuine and authentic weariness from the hardships in her life. Furthermore, the free verse structure also provides a sombre, reflective mood that allows the mother’s thoughts to flow naturally, in imparting her wisdom to her son. Nonetheless, repeated lines such as ‘Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair’ in the second and last lines of the poem help to provide an informal structure that emphasises the hardships faced by the mother.
Line breaks then provide the poem with a tense atmosphere, and help to emphasise key words in the poem. When the mother reflects that in her life, ‘It’s had tacks in it / And splinters / And boards torn up / And places with no carpet on the floor — ‘, each feature of her house is spoken with sharp tension, conveying the pain and suffering she has faced in her life. Furthermore, the poet’s choice of diction is accentuated by carefully positioned line breaks, which show how the mother has surmounted ‘landin’s’ and ‘corners’ to keep ‘goin’ in the dark / Where there ain’t been no light’.
Finally, the syntax in the poem conveys the African American mother’s voice and perspective clearly, and allows her reflections to carry a genuine resonance and weight. The intonations used in syntax such as ‘a-climbin’ on’, ‘reachin’ landin’s’, ‘turnin’ corners’ and ’cause you finds it’s kinder hard’ are used to convey the unique manner in which the mother speaks, and in doing so, preserves the mother’s inner strength and resilience in her reflections to her son.
In conclusion, Hughes has crafted a compelling poem that reflects the challenges, hardships and resilience of African Americans through the poem’s free verse structure, line breaks, and syntax. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, this poem continues to be thematically resonant to the present day.
