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Mother to Son | The Poetry Foundation. By Langston Hughes. Well, 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.
“Mother to Son” is a poem by Langston Hughes. It was first published in 1922 in The Crisis, a magazine dedicated to promoting civil rights in the United States, and was later collected in Hughes’s first book The Weary Blues (1926).
‘Mother to Son’ by Langston Hughes uses the metaphor of a staircase to depict the difficulties and dangers one will face in life. The poem contains a mother’s warning to her son about the stairs one is forced to climb throughout life. He must watch out for broken boards, splinters, and tacks. These things are there in order to throw him off.
"Mother to Son" is a 1922 poem by American writer and activist Langston Hughes. The poem follows a mother speaking to her son about her life, which she says "ain't been no crystal stair". She first describes the struggles she has faced and then urges him to continue moving forward.
Mother to Son. Langston Hughes. 1901 –. 1967. Well, 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,
Mother to Son Lyrics. Well, 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—....
The poem is a dramatic monologue in which a working-class Black woman speaks to her son about the value of perseverance in the face of American racism. She does so using an extended metaphor that likens life to a staircase.
