Langston Hughes has chosen to use anaphora, dialect, and imagery, as well as other literary devices in Mother to Son. Anaphora isthe repetition of words at the beginning of lines, as well as just a general repetition of words throughout the poem. In line 13, the narrator says that sometimes she had no light. It means that she had lost the will and hope of survival. The repetition, short phrases, dialect and metaphorical content all make the poem seem like a song or a nursery rhyme that a mother is singing to her son. To describe the different periods of her life, she inserts landings into the staircase. Anaphora is clearest in lines 4-6 and 10-12. For example, he fell asleep under the cherry tree is a phrase that features assonance with the repetition of the long e vowel, despite the fact that the words containing this vowel do not end in perfect rhymes. In line two of the poem, the poet says that the life of the mother aintt been a. Assonance poems are abundant in literature. Its two short stanzas deliver an urgent warning never to let dreams die. Mother to Son is closely related to the hardships faced by the African Americans in the early twentieth century. InDreams,Hughes highlights the value of dreams and how important it is to nurture them if one wants to fly above the rest of the world. An allusion is a literary device used by poets. Every single person that visits Poem Analysis has helped contribute, so thank you for your support. Yet in addition to a rhythmic effect, the assonance in this part of Audens poem is also lyrical. The mother belongs to African American community and has had a hard and tough life. She had always faced bad situations with a strong front. Here are two examples of assonance that is also alliteration. Symbolism is the use of specific symbols to denote concepts and perceptions. Readers of all backgrounds can come to this poem and feel themselves either in the shoes of the child or the mother, or perhaps both. She reminds him that he must always think about the hardships faced by his mother and keep on fighting against his exhaustion. Get the entire guide to Mother to Son as a printable PDF. A detailed history of the Harlem Renaissancewith links to other Harlem Renaissance writers and textsfrom the Poetry Foundation. However, she emphasizes that with perseverance, they can overcome such complications. The speaker is conversing with her son. LitPriest is a free resource of high-quality study guides and notes for students of English literature. What advice did the mother give to the son in the poem "Mother To Son" by Langston Hughes? Assonance is an effective literary device. William Blake often uses repetition to set the scene and bring the point across in his poetry. In addition, assonance can regulate the pacing of a poem or line of text. Otherwise, the effect is likely to go unnoticed by the reader. In "Mother to Son" what is the extended metaphor. In line 13, the narrator says that sometimes she had. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor Bare. Slant rhymes often pair similar vowel sounds with dissimilar consonant sounds, which means that slant rhymes often contain assonance. Crystals are charming, fashionable, and stunning. The end-stops in lines 17-19 indicates the principle, self-confidence, and spirit of the mother. Also, whereas a consonance could be used in prose to make it melodious, assonance is used only in poetic verses and not in prose. It signifies that white people have their life adorned with glamor and ease while the black mothers path has always been dangerous and dingy. Assonance does not require that words with the same vowel sounds be directly next to each other. That doesn't really happen. The various poetic devices used in the poem strongly showcase the struggle of the mother and her sacrifices in her life. Its had tacks in it, And places with no carpet on the floor The Harlem Renaissance is considered as the most significant art movement in black literature in the US. LitCharts Teacher Editions. A detailed history of the Harlem Renaissancewith links to other Harlem Renaissance writers and textsfrom the Poetry Foundation. "Ted takes you to Chinatown for turtle Soup, each piece of its floating meat Wholly disparate ". She has kept climbing through landings, corners and darkness. She uses the word boy to call his attention and make sure he is still listening to her. Ise been a-climbin on, The poem contains a mothers warning to her son about the stairs one is forced to climb throughout life. The word darkness is used in the 12th line of the poem. Auden utilizes assonance as a literary device in this poem to create a sense of rhythm and lyrical effect. It was later included in Hughes book titled The Weary Blues published in 1926. Assonance is also common in song lyrics. Hughes composed the text in free verse. Study Guides; Q & A; Lesson Plans; . Both assonance and alliteration can influence the rhythm of poetry and prose. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. The poverty of the mother does not indicate that she is indolent. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Finally she ast Where it is? Like assonance, alliteration is the repetition of sound for literary effect. She says that some paths of her life have been dark. These words also use different consonant sounds. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. Mother to Son by Langston Hughes is a twenty-line poem that is contained within one stanza of text. Dont you set down on the stepsCause you finds its kinder hard.. She wants to make sure that, above all else, this is the lesson her son learns. Refrain and theme also come close to it in meanings, but they are, too, literary devices, having their own distinct meanings and uses.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'literarydevices_net-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_16',123,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-literarydevices_net-large-leaderboard-2-0'); Copyright 2023 Literary Devices. When used properly as literary devices, they can enhance the meaning of literature as well as the enjoyment and artful use of words and their sounds. Here the narrator talks about the nature of her journey. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. Dont you set down on the stepsCause you finds its kinder hard.Dont you fall nowFor Ise still goin, honey,Ise still climbin,And life for me aint been no crystal stair. Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. They use repetition to create sounds and set the mood within a poem. "So it took Charles Bon and his mother to get rid of old Tom, and Charles Bon and the octoroon to get rid of Judith, and Charles Bon and Clytie to get rid of Henry; and Charles Bon's mother and Charles Bon's grandmother got rid of Charles Bon.". Poets are very careful with their word choice in order to best fit the mood of their poetry. The reader connects with the character of the mother and admires her perseverance, endurance and resilience in the face of all adversities. The recurrence of consonant sounds within the same sentence is named as consonance. As the structure of the poem is in free verse, therefore, there is no regular rhyming scheme. The stanza completes the main stanza of the suffering during racism and the will to struggle to win. The poet compares the life of the black woman with a dark, rickety and battered staircase. During this era, racism and discrimination against the black community were rampant in the USA. Well, son, Ill tell you:Life for me aint been no crystal stair.Its had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floorBare.But all the timeIse been a-climbin on,And reachin landins,And turnin corners,And sometimes goin in the darkWhere there aint been no light.So boy, dont you turn back.Dont you set down on the stepsCause you finds its kinder hard.Dont you fall nowFor Ise still goin, honey,Ise still climbin,And life for me aint been no crystal stair. It is one of Hughes best-loved poems. She advises him that she has faced tough obstacles in her life. The poem is not just a piece of advice from a mother to her son. Where there aint been no light. It is the repetition of consonant sounds within lines of verse or prose. 2Life for me aint been no crystal stair. Analysis of Literary Devices in "Mother to Son" literary devices are tools that enable writers to present their ideas, emotions, and feelings with the use of these devices. What is the setting in Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son"? Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days Hardship endured oft. The mother is not satisfied with just telling her son her story. Langston Hughes presents a speaker who is a mother of a teenager. All Rights Reserved. In both poetry and prose, assonance's repetition of sound can give language a musical element, as well as emphasize sounds or words that particularly resonate with the ideas or themes of the work. Assonance in "Painter in Your Pocket" by Destroyer, "And I'm reminded of the time that I was blinded by the sun It was a welcome change From the sight of you hanging Like a willow. He uses shortened versions of words such as reachin rather than reaching and landins rather than landings. This has the effect of making the verses more song-like. Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter or sound at the beginning of words. It is dangerous to live her life, and more often than not, each step presents something new to fear. For example, long vowel sounds tend to slow the pace of reading, whereas short vowel sounds tend to quicken a readers pace. Yes! Many common phrases utilize assonance. However, it can also be related to the Biblical Fall. It seems that the poet purposely evades such poetic devices which create a pleasant effect in order to reinforce the harsh circumstances of the speaker. At the same time, the poem argues that Black people can overcome these difficulties through persistence, resilience, and mutual support. It indirectly refers to a person, place or thing outside the confines of the text. It can be stated that crystal stair refers to the hypocrisy and double standards of American society.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'litpriest_com-leader-2','ezslot_11',115,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-litpriest_com-leader-2-0'); The poet employs darkness as a symbol of bleakness and desolation. 1. She had to make her way in life with inadequate furnishings. Dont you set down on the steps The theme of despair and hope is enforced in the poem through the symbols of dark and light. In some cases, it has an even greater impact on the rhythm than assonance . Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Whereas a consonance is a repetition of consonance sounds in a verse, assonance is a repetition of vowel sounds in a verse. They are different in that one comprises vowel sounds and the other consonant sounds, one comprises stressed and the other unstressed syllables. The mother does not want her son to resort to unfair means in order to survive. Assonance is an example of this technique in writing. In `Mother to Son' the author points out the love and concern of a mother to her son. That is what she is conveying to her son. Assonance is a resemblance in the sounds of words/syllables either between their vowels (e.g., meat, bean) or between their consonants (e.g., keep, cape). It expresses the emotions of the mother. In addition, the assonance of the "uh" sound in final syllables of "prosperous," "dangerous," and "could just" establishes the slant rhyme that ends with the slightly different vowel sound in "hostages. However, there are occasional rhymes such as "stair" and "bare." The assonance in these words allows the poem to, In prose that reaches for poetic beauty, assonance highlights the craft of the language by calling attention to the language itself. An article on Langston Hughes's influence on the Harlem Renaissance. The colloquial quality of the language used can be observed in the line Cause you find its kinder hard. The language style indicates that the speaker of the poem is not much educated and belongs to a rural area. The staircase can be considered as a spiritual allusion.