Walt Whitman's Influence On Langston Hughes

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During his time in high school his English teacher introduced Hughes to poets such as Carl Sandberg, and Walt Whitman, who Hughes often cited as major influences in his early life as far as his writing style. “Sandberg was as Hughes called him ‘my guiding star,’ and was decisive in leading him towards free verse and a radically democratic modernist aesthetic.” (Rampersad) He frequently submitted some of his work to other poetry magazines but they all ended in rejection. Not only was he influenced by Whitman and Sandberg, but also by black poets Paul Laurence Dunbar who specialized in both standard and dialect verse, and Claude McKay who was known for his lyrical poetry and also his radical socialism. Hughes wrote a number of works while in high school. He began to write poetry, plays, and even his own short stories. He even completed his first jazz poetry titled When Sue Wears Red. …show more content…
Having almost no relationship with his father growing up, Hughes was slightly nervous to be seeing his father again after all these years. In The Big Sea, Hughes wrote “My father hated Negros. He had a strange dislike for his own people. I didn’t understand it, because I was a Negro, and I liked Negros very much.” (The Big Sea) His father had disproved of his dream to be a writer and had urged him to study engineering. They initially set up a compromise that if his father would pay for tuition, Hughes would study engineering. Hughes already being exposed to poetry took a different approach on college. It was when he attended Columbia that he really discovered Harlem and all it had to offer