Harlem - Langston Hughes
Overview
The given material explains about the condition of postponed dreams. This is an assignment submitted in Swayam OER for Empowering Teachers.
Harlem poem by Langston Hughes
Harlem poem by Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes, an eternal name in the history of American literature, was one of the revolutionary poets during the twentieth century who used his literary talent as a weapon in the struggle against capitalism, for the emancipation of the toiling humanity, taking pride in the black culture and heritage. Langston Hughes was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance who made the African American experiences as his subject in his writings.
Hughes’ poem “Harlem” or “Dream Deferred” demonstrated the need for dreams. It was written in 1951, as a result of whites’ brutality towards African Americans living in America.
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? (Hughes vol. 3 1-11)
It is a well-known poem of Hughes, which provokes the readers to fulfill their dreams. According to him dreams are part of human existence, but he strongly believed that the unfulfilled dreams would bring adverse results. He warned those who dreamt but never acted. Dreams are not easy to be realized without perseverance. He compared the dreams deferred to raisins, which are dried up and get shrunken. They will lose their freshness and juicy state if they are kept under the sun for a long time. Hughes compared the ignored dreams similarly to rotten meat, sore, and sugar crust, which are turned to unhealthy products that could not be consumed or used. The postponed, neglected and ignored dreams are compared with rotten meat that would be harmful to health. Such unfulfilled dreams would become an intense, heavy and unbearable load or burden. A time would come when such hidden dreams would explode, causing undesired flutters and serious consequences.