19 pages • 38 minutes read
Langston HughesChildren’s Rhymes
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1926A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Form and Meter
Langston Hughes’ “Children’s Rhymes” is composed of three stanzas, and each stanza contains five lines, making each stanza a quintain. The poem is lyric and an example of free verse, since it is short and doesn’t employ iambic pentameter or any prescribed meter. The lines could have as many syllables as Hughes wants, but he sticks to short, monosyllabic words to create a cohesive sound. A rhyme scheme also contributes to the form and meter, with the third and fifth lines rhyming in each stanza. As Hughes is writing in free verse, he has room to improvise, so in the first two stanzas, it’s not just the third and fifth lines that rhyme. If the pronunciation of "sends” (Line 1), “kids” (Line 2), and “can’t” (Line 4) is manipulated somewhat, then all five lines rhyme in Stanza 1. More so, in Stanza 2, “everybody” (Line 9) rhymes with the last words in Lines 8 and 10.
Assonance
Assonance is a literary device that allows the poet to create a rhythm and harmony by repeating similar vowel sounds. In the first stanza, Hughes utilizes assonance by including a lot of “i” and “e” sounds with words like “sends” (Line 1), “ain’t” (Line 3), and “President” (Line 5). In Stanza 2, the speaker preserves the assonance by focusing on the “e” sound with the words “me” (Line 8), “everybody” (Line 9), and “free” (Line 10). In Stanza 3, the assonance centers on the “a” sound with “a-tall” (Line 13) and “All” (Line 15).
The presence of assonance pertains to the influence of jazz. “Children’s Rhymes” features the improvisational rhythm and beat of jazz music, which inspired Hughes’ poetry. In his 1956 essay “Jazz as Communication,” Hughes writes, “Jazz seeps into words—spelled out words.” The assonance in “Children’s Rhymes” reflects Hughes' mission of "putting jazz into words.” The meaning of the words is critical, but the sound they make is crucial to the poem too. The sound of words such as “ain’t” and “a-tall” don't only add to the assonance of the poem, but they connect to the jazz melody that Hughes tried to capture. Even the switch from “the white kids” (Line 2) to “them white kids” (Line 7) ties into the nuanced improvisations and modifications produced by the sound of jazz music.
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is a literary device that lets the poet compare two things to highlight their differences. In “Children’s Rhymes,” Hughes uses juxtaposition to draw attention to the treatment of two of the races in the United States. The speaker mentions “white” in all three stanzas. White kids appear in Stanzas 1 and 2, and white folks arrive in Stanza 3. Based on the poem, it’s logical to conclude that the speaker is a Black kid, so Hughes juxtaposes the predicament of the Black kid with those of white kids/folks. The comparison shows the limits and worries of the Black speaker and the entitlements and relative blitheness of white people. Through juxtaposition, the speaker sends the message that America is a land of equality where everybody receives liberty and justice.
Additionally, juxtaposition occurs in the form of the poem. Hughes juxtaposes a loose rhyme scheme and sound with strict stanza lengths. Each stanza is exactly five lines, yet the rhyme scheme and the sounds of the stanzas differ. Of course, each stanza features a rhyme between the third and final lines, but rhymes occur throughout each stanza—sometimes in unexpected places. For example, in Stanza 1, “ain’t” (Line 3) rhymes with “can’t” (Line 4) and “President” (Line 5) even though “ain’t” isn’t the last word of Line 3. The concrete stanza length juxtaposes the agile rhyme scheme and helps draw attention to the similar sounds in each of the three quintains.
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By Langston Hughes
