Mother to Son 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
Where 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. 

By Langston Hughes

Analysis:

In this poem, the persona  talks about how the mother is giving advice to her son by talking about how life is a staircase as it symbolizes how life is the exhaustive uphill climb in life and how it is hard at times for the poet as evident in the poem that "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair" .The phrase "crystal stair" refers to clarity and perfection without any obstacles which isn't the case for the persona and by using allegory, she elaborated that her life "had tacks in it, and splinters, and boards torn up" which in this poem illustrates the sharpness and discomfort of life's obstacle and splinters represented the inflammatory pain and the difficulties in removing and overcoming this pain in life and from the line "And places with no carpet on the floor- bare" it means that the poet had to walk through the stairs of life with the tacks and splinters, dealing with the obstacles which came up, alone.The short free verse poem has no set rhythm, but the poet uses line length to give emphasis to specific words and phrases. He uses the word “Bare” on a a by itself to emphasize the word’s symbolic meaning of alone.  The shorter lines move faster when reading and other lines have a longer lasting meaning due to more words in the line. From line 3-6, the images in the poem revealed a ragged,old staircase. Repetition also adds to the imagery of the poem. The constant repetition of p's, t's,and s's render the reader completely breathless imitating the exhaustive uphill climb of stairs. Using the word "and" repeatedly creates a constant feeling of never-ending continuation.

However, the persona perseveres and has been going through problems, trying to solve them as evident in lines 9-11 "I'se been climbing on, and reachin' landin's and turnin' corners" meaning that she has been trying different approaches to solve the problem/challenge she has faced in life. This represents that she has often had struggles and moments of uncertainty in her life, yet she has always pushed through. Also, through language, the poet illustrates the sense of identity in the speaker with the use of the language of what a mother would normally use. Some examples from the poem is "ain’t", "finds it’s kinder hard" , and dropping the final “g” in words such as "goin’" or "turnin’" this used language gives the sense that the persona is a less educated woman. The less grammatical language gives the sense that the speaker wants something better for the son, but she knows he will still have to work for it.

"And sometimes goin' in the dark,where there ain't been no light" this two lines from the poem states that the persona had went through hardships without any guidance or help. And she tells her son to never give up as evident in the poem that "don't you turn back" even if he finds it hard as the persona is still hanging on, and it indicates that if she can, her son can, too.

 Through repetition on the last line of the poem she emphasizes on the extended metaphor of a crystal staircase, which symbolizes life steps one takes in life, one can infer that as long as a person is living, there will be more steps to climb. The last line of the poem "And life for me ain't been no crystal stair" links back to what the poet is trying to tell us from the start of the poem which is: in order to overcome the hurdles of life, a person must possess courage and determination.