To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Throughout the poem, the speaker identifies with the night and “claims” it as his own. 
 The 19th-century American poet Walt Whitman, whose work Hughes admired, also liked to identify himself (and poetry) with nighttime: 
 This is thy hour O Soul… Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best, Night, sleep, death, and the stars. 
 -“A Clear Midnight” 
 In a sense Hughes may be staking a claim to Whitman’s poetic legacy, for himself and for black people generally.
Dream Variations