Advice from Langston Hughes
For me, birthdays and New Year's Day are the days on which to pay heed to utterly common and unoriginal pieces of advice. This time: Read more poetry. Why? Last night, I discovered this gem by Langston Hughes and realized how the poem provides an answer in an oblique way:
Advice
Folks, I'm telling you,
Birthing is hard
And Dying is mean
So get yourself
Some loving in between.
- Langston Hughes
5 comments:
in an oblique way?
what exactly is that a reference to?
VATSAYANA????????????????
Anon: That wasn't the oblique direction that I alluded to. I meant the poem and how it is structured answers the question: Why pay heed to the most banal advice?
But you are free to interpret it the way you want. :)
The Oxford Book of American Poetry is something you would like.
And isn't it The Botany of Desire? I think I had browsed it sometime.
E: Will check out the site!
A: Thanks!
In general, poetic language is formal. But Advice is written in colloquial English. Do you think the language style is appropriately used here? Why?
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