As stated by Martin Luther King, Jr., “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Only a few decades before Martin Luther King, Jr. led the American Civil Rights Movement, Langston Hughes mastered many works espousing the black race. Hughes wrote during a time when the white-dominated society considered the Negro an inferior being (“The Harlem Renaissance”). In the poem “Trumpet Player,” Hughes exemplifies the literary characteristics of metaphors and imagery coupled with a distinctive scansion to assert the theme that the Negro has endured the violence of slavery, a memory which is everlasting; however, he consummates solace through his music.
Langston Hughes composed the poem “Trumpet Player” and many other influential literary works during the Harlem Renaissance (“The Harlem Renaissance”). The Harlem Renaissance occurred after World War I, and it was a cultural movement that embodied pride in African-American heritage (“The Harlem Renaissance”). During this time, slaves were free, but white supremacy was at a forefront, especially in the southern states (“The Harlem Renaissance”). Moreover, Hughes emerged as a dominant icon of literature (“The Harlem Renaissance”). In “Trumpet Player,” Hughes…show more content… Although "Trumpet Player" is a free form poem, it contains a scheme whereby the fourth and eighth lines in each section rhyme. Additionally, the work displays more rhyming with the first and last stanzas than the rest of the piece. As the reader glances at the short length of the lines, he/she expects a quick tempo. However, Hughes crafts “Trumpet Player” with few commas and no punctuation at the end of each
