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How did Countee Cullen’s poetic style differ from Langston Hughes’s style?

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The Weary Blues cover — Harlem Renaissance Dust jacket designed by the Mexican illustrator and writer Miguel Covarrubias for Langston Hughes's *The Weary Blues* (1926), a book of experimental poetry.

Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes represented two distinct approaches to poetry during the Harlem Renaissance. Their differences were primarily rooted in their views on poetic form and the role of racial heritage in artistic expression.

Poetic Form: Cullen was deeply influenced by the Romantic tradition, particularly the work of John Keats. He preferred traditional English verse forms and classical structures. In contrast, Hughes rejected formalist constraints in favor of free verse, drawing inspiration from poets like Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg.123
Racial Identity and Vernacular: Hughes sought to create a uniquely Black literature by incorporating African American street vernacular, jazz, and blues rhythms. He identified closely with the Black masses. Conversely, Cullen believed that great poetry should transcend racial identity. While he wrote about racial themes, he maintained that the broader tradition of English poetry was a more significant resource for his work than any specific "racial" heritage.1432