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Birth
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1902. -
Father, Son Relationship
He had a very bad relationship with his father, he lived with him in 1919 for only a breif time though. -
School
Langston went to school in Lincoln, Illinois. He went to Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio in 1920 (he graduated there). -
College
He went to Columbia University in 1921, but left in 1922 because of racial prejudice. -
Other Jobs
Before becoming a writer, he worked as a crewman on the S.S. Malone in 1923. -
Moving
November 1924, he moved back into his mom’s house in Washington, DC. -
Vachel Lindsay
He met a poet named Vachel Lindsay in 1925; he shared some poems with him. -
More Jobs
He worked at various jobs before getting a great job in 1925, worked for historian Carter G. Woodson. -
Published
Lindsay publicized his discovery of a new black poet. Soon his poems were published in magazines and books. This happened in 1925. -
University
Later he went to Lincoln University in 1926. -
New York
After Hughes earned a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) degree from Lincoln University in 1929, he returned to New York, to live there. -
Dear Lovely Death
Dear lovely death
That taketh all things under wing-
Never to kill-
Only to change
Into some other thing
This suffering flesh,
To make it either more or less,
Yet not again the same-
Dear lovely death, Change is thy other name. -
April Rain Song
Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain. -
Death
He died May 22, 1967, Hughes died from complications after abdominal surgery, related to prostate cancer.
