Critical Comment on ‘Black Panther’ by Langston Hughes
The poem, ‘Black Panther’ is written by African-American poet Langston Hughes. Through this
paper, I shall critically comment on various aspects of the poem such as the rhyme scheme, tone,
linguistic features and theme of the poem.
Although the poem contains a few internally and externally rhyming words such as die - cry, and
disguise - lies, it does not seem to show any particular rhyme scheme and hence can be
considered to be written in free verse. The poem does not appear to have any noticeable structure
apart from the fact that it has two unequal stanzas, with the second one having lines of
decreasing length.
The poem’s tone is that of revenge. It shows the rise of the feeling of vengeance caused by years
of suppression and exploitation. It also talks about the never ending cycle of vengeance.
The first stanza of the poem represents various situations that a person or community may have
gone through. It looks like the stanza is at a steady dramatic rise and hits it’s climax at the last
line, ‘Changed into “Eye for eye,”. The repetition of the line, ‘Pushed into the corner of’
emphasizes the repeated acts of oppression and the frustration of the victim/victims. The comma
after the last line of the first stanza indicates that the idea is carried forward to the next stanza.
The second stanza talks about the African-Americans that decided to fight against their
oppressors with the help of violence. It speaks of how the African-Americans boldly strike back
with ideologies that are ‘Motivated by the truest Of the oldest Lies.’ The oldest lie here could
possibly mean the end of war with the help of violent methods.
Langston Hughes tries to convey the increasing levels of oppression and the sudden change in
attitude of people from anti-violent to pro-violence. He also shows that the ‘Black Panther’,
which is a sleek and silent animal, is being bold and desperate, and is hence following the paths
of the truest of the oldest lies, that is the fact that peace will be acquired upon retaliation.