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Mother to Son

by Langston Hughes · 1922 · 1 min de lecture · 20 lignes

En bref

“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is a poem about a mother urging her son to keep going despite life’s hardships. She begins by saying her life has not been a crystal staircase, then describes tacks, splinters, broken boards, and bare floors. These rough surfaces make hardship feel physical and painful. The poem shifts from the obstacles she has faced to her steady movement upward, through landings, around corners, and into darkness without light. She then turns her experience into advice: her son must not turn back, sit down, or fall because the climb is difficult. At the end, she reminds him that she is still climbing, returning to the staircase image to ground her encouragement in her own unfinished struggle.

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 timeI’se been a-climbin’ on,And reachin’ landin’s,And turnin’ corners,And sometimes goin’ in the darkWhere 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.

Ce que cela signifie, ligne par ligne

Lignes 1 à 7: The mother addresses her son directly and compares her life to a damaged staircase rather than a beautiful crystal one. Tacks, splinters, torn boards, and missing carpet suggest pain, danger, and a lack of comfort. The single-word line describing the floor as bare gives special weight to that absence of protection.

Lignes 8 à 13: The word “But” shifts attention from hardship to persistence. The mother has continued climbing, reaching landings and turning corners. Moving through darkness suggests continuing without being able to see what comes next. Repeated descriptions of movement make her endurance feel active and ongoing.

Lignes 14 à 17: The mother turns her experience into direct advice. She tells her son not to retreat, stop on the steps, or fall when the climb becomes difficult. These commands keep the staircase comparison alive while giving her speech an urgent, protective tone.

Lignes 18 à 20: Calling her son “honey” adds tenderness to the firm instructions. She supports her advice by reminding him that she is still moving upward herself. The final return to the crystal staircase emphasizes that her persistence has not depended on an easy life, and her struggle is not over.

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Trois questions pour réfléchir

  1. How do the damaged staircase details shape your understanding of the mother’s experience?
  2. What changes when the mother moves from describing her climb to giving her son instructions?
  3. How does repeating the crystal staircase image at the end affect the mother’s message?

Gratuit pendant 3 mois

200 000+ classiques. Tous les formats, gratuits pour commencer.

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