Mother to Son
Mother to Son - context Summary
1922: the Weary Blues
Published in 1922 in Hughes's collection The Weary Blues, "Mother to Son" presents a Black mother’s plainspoken counsel to her son about perseverance. The poem frames life as a difficult, damaged staircase but insists on continual climbing despite hazards and darkness. It reflects central themes in Hughes’s work—racial and economic struggle, resilience, and communal transmission of wisdom—expressed in a direct, conversational voice rooted in everyday experience.
Read Complete AnalysesWell, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor— Bare. But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So, boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps. 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now— For I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
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