Eat at the Table (Future)
...tomorrow, I'll be at the table
when company comes...
 
        The usage of the phrase, tomorrow, I'll be at the table when company comes , is referring to the future (Langston Hughes was probably referring to somewhere around our current time). In the stanza before this phrase is mentioned, Hughes is telling the reader that today (his current day when he wrote the poem) he is sent to the kitchen when company comes, as he is not good enough to sit with the white people. He is describing the harshness and penalties that he faces for being black. In this sentence he is encouraging black people to stand up for their rights. Tomorrow (in a better day), he will be at the table when company comes, and will not be discriminated against because he is black.


To lean more about the author of this poem, Langston Hughes, visit The Academy of American Poets at
                                        http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=84

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