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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