Langston Hughes is perhaps the most famous poet of the Harlem Renaissance, whose masterpieces include “I, Too, Sing America” (the topic of today’s entry in the American History edition) and “Jazzonia” (which I wrote about last year).

Less well known is the fact that Hughes spent many years living in Mexico, and used his mastery of the language to write a translate a number of Spanish works. A personal favorite: his translation of Gabriel Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding. This was the first play in the trio of tragedies Lorca wrote (the others were “Yerma” and “The House of Bernarda Alba”) before he was murdered by Franco’s soldiers in 1936. (A topic for another post.) It’s the story of provincial Spanish wedding that begins happily and naturally enough, and ends with numerous deaths and a talking moon. It’s a brilliant play, and Hughes’ translation is the best. It was hard to come by for a number of years, but in 1994 it was finally released, along with the American poet W. S. Merwin’s translation of Yerma. Great reading for holiday travel.

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