In this lesson we will look at a very famous poem by the leading artist of the Harlem renaissance, Langston Hughes, the end of which Nottage quotes as her preface to the play. The demise of loyalty and patriotism, the fracturing of the country and bitter discontent of the ‘have nots’ in the play find a potent parallel in Hughes’ depiction of social inequality in the 1930’s depression. We are back to a significant proximity to the alleged ‘American Dream’.
The learning objective is to develop our understanding of the detail of the poem and the parallels it charts with events, themes and characters in the play.
- As part of your preparation, you should have looked again and in detail at the play as a whole.
- Make sure you have read the poem several times before you start.
- By the end we should be able to answer the question: ‘Why and how does ‘Sweat’ paint a more negative picture of the American future than ‘Make America America again’?
- What is your preliminary answer to this?
Let America Be America Again: Langston Hughes
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
…
