Harlem by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
I really like this poem by Langston Hughs because it shows different ways to think about topics that you wouldn't normally think about, like dreams. a dream is a really interesting topic to write a poem about because there are so many ways to express yourself in poetry, on top of being able to write many things about dreams. In this poem, Hughes describes what can happen when you put off something that you've been dreaming about for a while.
"Deferred" means to be put off, and not looked at for a long time. The beginning line in the poem is very good because it sets things up for the rest of the poem. What happens to a dream deferred? is also a very good opening line because it is a question, and questions make you think about a lot of things, and often bring you into the next lines of the poem.
In the first stanza, Langston Hughes gives examples of many things that a dream will do if "deferred". Hughes gives examples like "Does it dry up/ like a raison in the sun?" and "Or does it fester like a sore--/ then run?" Notice how both of these examples are also questions, like the beginning line. I think one of the techniques that Hughes used to draw the reader in was to ask the reader questions to keep them engaged and thinking. The examples from the text also have other literary devices such as personification and similes.
In the second stanza of the poem, things kind of calm down a little. He only states one this time, and its more general than the other components, so you can tell that it's more important. The fact that this line in the poem does not pose a question makes you wonder if that was the thing that the dream deferred actually does. Maybe it's what happens to a "dream deferred" in Hughes' eyes. This could keep me thinking for hours!
The last line of the poem is very mysterious, and I have to admit that it scares me a little. I've never really analyzed this line before because I didn't really think that it meant much, but from reading it over and over again I realized that this is the most important line in the poem. This line is a question again ("Or does it explode?") and it makes me wonder if dreams deferred actually do "explode". I think that this is a metaphor for that they do explode, in peoples minds. The dreams plot themselves in peoples minds when they're not thinking about them and then one day, the person realizes that they're still there, and suddenly cares when its gone, when they forget about it.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
I really like this poem by Langston Hughs because it shows different ways to think about topics that you wouldn't normally think about, like dreams. a dream is a really interesting topic to write a poem about because there are so many ways to express yourself in poetry, on top of being able to write many things about dreams. In this poem, Hughes describes what can happen when you put off something that you've been dreaming about for a while.
"Deferred" means to be put off, and not looked at for a long time. The beginning line in the poem is very good because it sets things up for the rest of the poem. What happens to a dream deferred? is also a very good opening line because it is a question, and questions make you think about a lot of things, and often bring you into the next lines of the poem.
In the first stanza, Langston Hughes gives examples of many things that a dream will do if "deferred". Hughes gives examples like "Does it dry up/ like a raison in the sun?" and "Or does it fester like a sore--/ then run?" Notice how both of these examples are also questions, like the beginning line. I think one of the techniques that Hughes used to draw the reader in was to ask the reader questions to keep them engaged and thinking. The examples from the text also have other literary devices such as personification and similes.
In the second stanza of the poem, things kind of calm down a little. He only states one this time, and its more general than the other components, so you can tell that it's more important. The fact that this line in the poem does not pose a question makes you wonder if that was the thing that the dream deferred actually does. Maybe it's what happens to a "dream deferred" in Hughes' eyes. This could keep me thinking for hours!
The last line of the poem is very mysterious, and I have to admit that it scares me a little. I've never really analyzed this line before because I didn't really think that it meant much, but from reading it over and over again I realized that this is the most important line in the poem. This line is a question again ("Or does it explode?") and it makes me wonder if dreams deferred actually do "explode". I think that this is a metaphor for that they do explode, in peoples minds. The dreams plot themselves in peoples minds when they're not thinking about them and then one day, the person realizes that they're still there, and suddenly cares when its gone, when they forget about it.
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