Explication of a Poem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Explication of a Poem - Essay Example The main idea of the poem is that the poet sees night as freedom, not daytime, which is unconventional. arms wide In the face of the sun, Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the quick day is done. Rest at pale evening... A tall, slim tree... Night coming tenderly Black like me† (Hughes, 2010). The idea is that the narrator would like to whirl and spin in this kinesthetic manner, and is therefore crying out a wish that is in vain. The still image of the tree is a kinesthetic contrast to the dance. These very visual symbols also have metaphorical meaning in the poem as black people and white people. The idea is that the poet narrator is visually breaking through the conventions of using light and bright to mean good, and darkness to mean evil, and asking the reader to empathize with night. In terms of simile, as noted above, the narrator identifies themselves with night as well as a tree. â€Å"To fling my arms wide In some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance Till the white day is done. Then rest at cool evening Beneath a tall tree While night comes on gently, Dark like me- That is my dream!† (Hughes, 2010). The main simile is of the dark. as the sun and the night, or night and daytime. Langston Hughes answers the main question with more questions, because this is a Socratic method of seeking the answers. In terms of whether his views are political and societal, if one cannot say that the author has both intents, the result would be towards societal rather than political, since there are no names named, or parties advocated, in Hughes’ work. There were also other powerful societal critics, who did not explicitly involve politics in her writing, but instead pointed towards social concerns. There are many similarities and differences between the works. Overall, both hope to achieve the goal of societal critique. The most