Democracy Democracy will not come |
Democracy is a poem by Langston Hughes written in 1949 when racism was a major issue in the United States. the theme of the poem is freedom and equal rights for everyone being achieved through democracy. The tone of the poem is desperate and persuasive. Langston Hughes saying that he is tired of waiting for a change in the government for a chance of democracy becoming a reality. The poem is written in five stanzas with no clear structure. The first and fourth stanza have four lines, the second and third have five, and the fifth has three lines. in the poem the last words of lines rhyme. The rhyming scheme is A,B,C,B-D,E,F,G,F-H,I,H,J,J-K,L,M,L-N,K,O. The poem is written as if Langston Hughes is talking while representing African Americans. He is addressing white people and the government. In the first stanza, Hughes personifies democracy and says it will not come if the way the government is being run continues. The last line of the stanza is a reference as to what the government was doing. The first two lines of the second stanza he I as in an African American, and the other fellow being a white person. He is implying that an African American should have as much right to have freedom and be part of the government. The third stanza says that he does not want to wait for things to change in the future, he wants it now, as he is struggling to survive in the current situation. The fifth stanza Hughes says that freedom is something very powerful, and is available as an option when a bad situation prevails. The fifth stanza is a metaphor describing freedom as if it was a seed. In the final stanza he addresses white people directly saying that he simply wants the same thing as them, and as they live in the same place there is no reason for them not to live equal lives. |
