I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.

I went to school there, then Durham, then here

to this college on the hill above Harlem.

I am the only colored student in my class.

The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem,

through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,

Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,

the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator

up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

It's not easy to know what is true for you or me

at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what

I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:

hear you, hear me--we two--you, me, talk on this page.

Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.

I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.

I like a pipe for a Christmas present,

I guess being colored doesn't make me not like

the same things other folks like who are other races.

So will my page be colored that I write?

As this poem reflects an analysis of internal and external observations of what is ruled and what really happens we can observe that it reflects on the structure of the poem. The stanzas does not have a fixed number and nor the number of syllables. The rhyme is not rigorous but we can observe that there are pieces with internal rhyme, exact rhyme and not rhyme at all. This because Hughes seeks for a sound very close to the daily speech but without lose the rhythm given by rhyme; the reader can feel the balance of the Negro speech.

James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was a small child, and his father moved to Mexico. He was raised by his grandmother until he was thirteen, when he moved to Lincoln, Illinois, to live with his mother and her husband, eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in Lincoln, Illinois, that Hughes began writing poetry. Following graduation, he spent a year in Mexico and a year at Columbia University. During these years, he held odd jobs as an assistant cook, launderer, and a busboy, and traveled to Africa and Europe working as a seaman. In November 1924, he moved to Washington, D.C. Hughes first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. He finished his college education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania three years later. In 1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter, won the Harmon gold medal for literature.

Some topics in this essay:
Black Americans, English B”, Bessie Bach, Americans American, Theme English, York Me--who, American Sometimes, Harlem Branch, Walt Whitman, Countee Cullen--Hughes, white professor, write page, hear harlem hear, hear harlem, blackness doesn’t, doesn’t automatically, hear hear, black americans, white line, feel hear harlem, eat sleep, blackness doesn’t automatically, feel hear,