# Cora — Poetry character guide

> Cora in Poetry by Langston Hughes.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Corinne Ann, Corrine, Anne

**First appearance:** 0205-cora

## Snapshot

A woman named in intimate, sorrowful tones — sometimes Corinne, sometimes Anne — whose presence haunts the poems like a love that went wrong.

## Who they are

Cora drifts through the verses as the 'she' in a house in Taos and the 'gal' who took a good boy's money and nearly his mind. She is both desired and elusive, a figure whose tenderness and betrayal blur together. Her importance lies in what she leaves behind: the speaker's weariness, his suspicion of love, and the quiet grief that colors so many of the blues-inflected poems.

## In the story

### [Mister Sandman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/mister-sandman)

A child who teased the cat and receives a nightmare about a rat.

### [Cora](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/cora)

Speaker who laments a broken heart and resolves to guard herself from future mistreatment.

### [Young Gal's Blues](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/chapters/young-gal-s-blues)

Mentioned as 'ma friend Miss Cora Lee,' the speaker walks behind her to the graveyard.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters/cora
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_15_se/characters