28 This poem refers to environment in Harlem because this poem written as a
voice of they souls as black people in Harlem and presented his environment.
B. Cross
Written by Langston Hughes My old mans a white old man
1 And my old mothers black.
If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back.
If ever I cursed my black old mother 5
And wished she were in hell, Im sorry for that evil wish And now I wish her well.
My old man died in a fine big house. My ma died in a shack.
I wonder where Im gonna die, Being neither white nor
black 11
1930
1. Explications
Cross is written by Langston Hughes, its poem as reflection to racial
identity. “I” in this poem is speaker and as mixed son between black people and white people so because it, the speaker wonder about his position as white people
or black people. The confusion of speaker in looking for his identity could be seen in line
3-6 “If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mother
And wished she were in hell, Im sorry for that evil wish.” The speaker in this poem wonders where his place is as a man being neither white nor
black and it can be reasonably inferred that this confusion was mirrored by Hughes uncertainty about what voice his poetry should take.
29
2. Analysis Race
Cross is poem of Langston Hughes, its poem as struggle reflection of
speaker in looking for his identity. The identity of race make person into a group, sometimes in a community indirectly a large group make discrimination to other
group or other race and that is problem which happening in America. its poem refer to race of feature of body.
“My old man’s a white old man and my old mother’s black.”
Line 1-2 This poem also reflected the struggle to encounter in finding his own
cultural identity or race of breed, the speaker in this poem is a child of hybrid who confused to choose of his identity of race. The speaker uses the word “I” as a
hybrid. He has denied he is black or white people so he cannot possibly be at the same status of race as his parents. He is not taken in by the African culture
because he is part white and he is not taken by the whites because he is black. He is taking his curses back from his mother and father because he realizes that this is
all he has left of his heritages and without them, he is no longer part of either society.
If ever I cursed my white old man I take my curses back.
If ever I cursed my black old mother And wished she were in hell, Im sorry for that evil wish
Line 3-6 I wonder where Im gonna die,
Being neither white nor black
Line 10 – 11
30 Its line refer to race of breed and also reflected the distance between black
and white and how he is unsure of where he stands in Americas view and the speaker in this poem wonder about his culture being a white people or black
people because he seems to not have a race.
3. Analysis Moment
