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The poetry of the Harlem Renaissance, and beyond, focused on the African American experience and the uplifting of the body, soul, and mind. The poetry of the time also embodied the African American as a thing of beauty. Countee Cullen was best known for this. His first major piece of poetry, "The Ballad of the Brown Girl", not only exemplifies the theme of the Harlem Renaissance, but it also was Countee Cullen's first award winning poem:
Her Hair was black as sin is blackCountee Cullen wanted to be known as a poet, not a Negro poet or Black poet. This was accomplished in his body of work that critics think flowered with "skillful rhyme".
And ringed about with fire;
Her eyes were black as night is black;
When moon and stars conspire;
Her mouth was one red cherry clipt
In twain, her voice a lyre.
Another major poet from this time period was Langston Hughes. The majority of Langston Hughes's poems were based on race pride. According to Hughes, all the African American artist has to do is bring "his racial individuality, his heritage of rhythm and warmth, and his incongruous humor that so often, as in the Blues, becomes ironic laughter mixed with tears". An example of Hughes's love for his people is "Poem":
The night is beautifulLangston Hughes and Countee Cullen epitomize the style and content of African American poetry during the Harlem Renaissance, a time in which African American Culture was lifted up to a new level.
So the faces of my people.The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.Beautiful, also, is the sun,
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.
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