Lament for Dark Peoples
Langston Hughes

Lament for Dark Peoples

I was a red man one time,
But the white men came.
I was a black man, too.
But the white men came.

The drove me out of the forest.
They took me away from the jungles.
I lost my trees.
I lost my silver moons.

Now they’ve caged me
In the circus of civilization.
Now I herd with the many⎯
Caged in the circus of civilization.
Lamento por las gentes oscuras

Fui un hombre rojo alguna vez,
Pero llegaron los blancos.
Fui un hombre negro también,
Pero los blancos llegaron.

Me echaron de los bosques. 
Me arrancaron de las selvas.
PerdĂ­ mis ĂĄrboles.
PerdĂ­ mis lunas de plata.

Ahora me han enjaulado
en el circo de la civilizaciĂłn.
Ahora ando en manada con la multitud 
Enjaulada en el circo de la civilizaciĂłn.

Translation by Patricia Bejarano Fisher

Author Information

“Langston Hughes was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, the flowering of black intellectual, literary, and artistic life that took place in the 1920s in a number of American cities, particularly Harlem. A major poet, Hughes also wrote novels, short stories, essays, and plays. He sought to honestly portray the joys and hardships of working-class black lives, avoiding both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes” (Poetry Foundation)

Sources

Spanish translation by Patricia Bejarano Fisher

Poetry Foundation. “Langston Hughes.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2014, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes.‌