Langston Hughes

Having studied some of Hughes' poetry years ago, I found it very refreshing and eye-opening to re-read his work given my new vantage point--so to speak. I read the poems "I, Too" and "I Look at the World." What strikes me about both of these poems is the incredible aura of optimism they possess. There is also some resonance with his illustration of the cultural struggle of being a black man in our society, but mostly I found his self-awareness extremely encouraging. In particular, in the poem "I Look at the World," Hughes goes from having "awakening eyes in a black face" (at the start of the poem) to having "eyes no longer blind." Eyes with which he can now "see that [his] own hands can make / The world that's in [his] mind."

Did anyone read any other poems of his? And how did they find optimism/pessimism in them?

Galway Kinnell's "Blackberry Eating"

I found Kinnell's poem to resemble Snyder's poetry in the way that it takes something technically mundane and transforms it into poetry. At the same time, "Blackberry Eating" has a much more vibrant and attention-grabbing aspect to it than much of Snyder's poetry. But I digress, this isn't about comparing the two poets. This poem does an amazing job of going "full circle." Kinnell connects words with individual berries--two seemingly unrelated things--and proceeds to describe, illustrate, and extrapolate upon their essential connectedness. He even proves that the words he uses to describe berries can be used to accurately and poetically describe words. In the very last line Kinnel even plays with syntax to get us to think about the poetry of this potentially mundane situation.

I wonder if anyone can come up with a way to make the most mundane thing they can think of meaningful and poetic. (I'm kinda stealing the idea from Professor L, but it does fit with this poem!)