In the poem, Let
America Be America Again, Langston Hughes uses a lot of imagery throughout
it. He has many stanzas that include well written imagery. In one of his lines
he says "O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic
wealth, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we
breathe." He wishes that equality was for all races and everyone would be
treated equally. Where African Americans get "life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness" guaranteed from the Declaration of Independence
from all races that oppose blacks. "The millions who have nothing for our
pay--Except the dream that's almost dead today" is another good line from
the poem. Mr. Hughes is saying everyone that does not pay them what they
deserve, or give them money has one thing that they really want, and that one
thing is equality. He just wants all races to be equal and fair in the eyes of
society.
For
sound devices, there is an assonance in the poem "Seeking a home where he
himself is free". The assonance is in "seeking" and "free"
where it is making a long e sound. Another assonance in the poem is "the
steel of freedom does not stain" with "steel" and
"freedom" with a long e sound as well as the last one. A different sound device is where Mr. Hughes
used an consonance. The consonance was "the dream of the dreamers
dreamed--". This whole line had the words started with a d.
There
are many figures of speech in this poem. For example there is a simile,
"From those who live like leeches on the people's lives". He is
comparing leeches to people's lives and using the word "like" to
compare these objects together. Mr. Hughes also refers to "dark Ireland's
shore" and "England's glassy lea" which are allusions
illustrated throughout the poem.
I agree that imagery is very prominent in this poem and that it catches the reader's attention the most, but I feel that you're maybe overlooking the use of sound devices. The use of sound devices in this poem acts the same as it would in most any poem. It brings great emphasis to certain key words and phrases such as "steel" and "freedom," like you mentioned. It makes these words, and the poem as a whole, overall more memorable and appealing to the ear. Think about it, the reason that people remember their favorite Dr. Seuss book is due to the fact that it rhymed. The sound device made it stick with them more easily.
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