Imitation 1: Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

Mother to Son is an interesting poem that Langston Hughes wrote from the perspective of a mother talking to her son. I find this poem interesting as I believe it reflects Hughes respect for his mother and the advice she gave. The poems stark and somewhat cynical description of life reflects the struggles Hughes most likely suffered during his life up to that point and may reflect how he realized that his mother's harsh advice at times was for his own good. He uses a great deal of repetition to emphasize key points the most important of which being this truth in his mother's advice shown by the line "And life for me ain't been no crystal stair. " For this reason I feel it is a confession. There is very little if any rhyming (although certain words could rhyme if pronounced in certain dialects) in the poem however Hughes heavy use of other devices such as metaphor, which he uses to compare a flight of crystal stairs to one that is broken and splintered. He also uses it again to compare a dark time in a persons' life to literal darkness. I like this poem because of it's metaphorical nature as well as how it's a narrative. What makes it most unique is how he frames it as a mother telling a story. The fact that Hughes is writing from another person's perspective (especially one so different than his own) and the fact that he goes so far as to copy her diction is what impresses me most about this poem.