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Although "Children's Rhymes" was first published years after the Harlem Renaissance, the poem reflects the major tenants of the literary movement and shows how it helped Black writers maintain a forceful, distinct expression after the 1920s and 30s. While the poem's rhythm relates to the rhymes kids often recite, the diction is also an example of Black English or African American Vernacular English (AAVE). This is the name commonly attached to the dialect spoken by some Black people. Words like "ain't" and "a-tall" link to Black English and the drive for Black writers to express their condition and feelings in a voice that represents them and not what white people want Black people to be or sound like. As Hughes wrote in “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” "If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter.
At the same time, the poem is a part of a literary moment when many books became concerned with the injustices and situations facing Black people in the mid-20th century. In his essay, "Autobiographical Notes" (1955), James Baldwin complains that the shelves "groan" due to the amount of literature about Black people.
By Langston Hughes
Cora Unashamed
Cora Unashamed
Langston Hughes
Dreams
Dreams
Langston Hughes
Harlem
Harlem
Langston Hughes
I look at the world
I look at the world
Langston Hughes
I, Too
I, Too
Langston Hughes
Let America Be America Again
Let America Be America Again
Langston Hughes
Me and the Mule
Me and the Mule
Langston Hughes
Mother to Son
Mother to Son
Langston Hughes
Mulatto
Mulatto
Langston Hughes
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston
Not Without Laughter
Not Without Laughter
Langston Hughes
Slave on the Block
Slave on the Block
Langston Hughes
Thank You, M'am
Thank You, M'am
Langston Hughes
The Big Sea
The Big Sea
Langston Hughes
Theme for English B
Theme for English B
Langston Hughes
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
Langston Hughes
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
Langston Hughes
The Ways of White Folks
The Ways of White Folks
Langston Hughes
The Weary Blues
The Weary Blues
Langston Hughes
Tired
Tired
Langston Hughes