1 Strange,
2 That in this nigger place,
3 I should meet Life face to face
4 When for years, I had been seeking
5 Life in places gentler speaking
6 Until I came to this near street
7 And found Life—stepping on my feet!
This poem is closed form, and is made up of one stanza with an A/A/B/B/C/C rhyme scheme. This poem was written to express the beauty found in Harlem as the name of the poem explains “Esthete in Harlem”, esthete means an appreciation of beauty. The poem revolves around Hughes searching for life in gentle places and out of all places finding it surprisingly in Harlem or as he describes it a “nigger” place. This poem is about the idea that Hughes searching for beauty has found it in the most unlikely place
