Langston Hughes: Poems

Significance of a line

What is the significance of the formatting of the last line of "harlem poem".

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Langston Hughes italicizes the line because he wants to underscore its importance. The last line is his only metaphor, the rest use simile, and Hughes uses it in an incendiary context. The implication here is that if equality does not happen soon for African Americans, the situation could become violent.