Harlem (Dream Deferred) by Langston Hughes Explication and Annotations

Huseyin Akis

 

Jody R. Rosen

 

ENG 2003 – 1248

 

5/1/12

 

Langston Hughes Harlem (Dream Deferred)

 

 

What happens to a dream deferred? ¹

 

Does it dry up                        ²

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore

And then run?                   ³

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over           ⁴

like a syrupy sweet?   

 

Maybe it just sags                ⁵

like a heavy load

Or does it explode?  ⁶

 

 

The poem Harlem (Dream Deferred) by Langston Hughes itself speaks to African-Americans telling them to never let up on their dreams. The speaker of the poem believes that dreams can be postponed. The “dream” is not only experienced while sleeping but, is also a goal in life you wish to accomplish. But, what exactly is being dreamed is up to the reader to figure it out. Langston Hughes clearly wants his readers to understand the first stanza asks a rhetorical question “What happens to a dream deferred”? ¹ What is a dream deferred it is a dream that cannot be fulfilled yet until society changes it and is also a dream that is postponed and put off.

   1^st Annotation:

1: “What happens to a dream deferred?”

The speaker asks the reader what happened dreams deferred where do they

go? Where do dreams postponed go? Deferred means postponed; to be put off

It is a dream more of a life goal of a human being is what makes the individual

a valuable member of a society. It’s a life goal that is has not been

accomplished yet.

2 ^nd Annotation:

1: “What happens to a dream deferred”?

The word “dream” refers to goals in the following poem but, refers to dreams

that were broken, shattered and unaccomplished.  The dream “deferred”

relates to (the abolition of slavery during the Civil War and the early Civil

Rights legislation) that decided by court and by state laws to deny blacks their

rights, especially in the South. As well there was limited job opportunities or no

job opportunities for African Americans. Many African Americans hopes were

crushed, shattered, soon would led to a deeper reservoir of frustration and

anger.

 

Langston Hughes poem continues to develop his rhetorical questions to more further questioning telling us what are the significance of these questions? When we look at each stanza we see a series of smiles as he explores dreams put on hold. Hughes uses a series of similes and figurative language through lines 2 – 10 to compare a dream deferred to grapes turning into raisins in the sun, the sugar of syrup crusting over, and heavy loads sagging. He compares a dream deferred to food things that are either being dried out, crusting by the tip of a bottle, and also compares the weight of things heavy enough to just sag.

 

We also see images stand out as he states “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun” ².  We see several events taking place slaves working on the plantations in the south where the hot sun is baking them. The images also make us think of is a hot desert like place where the grape is out in the sun slowly losing it nutrition and drying up into a brown color. When a grape turns into a raisin it loses its succulent taste and juice that is what literally happens to a dream deferred.  When this happens much of freshness of a dream is long gone, all dried up and unhealthy without nutrition.

1^st Annotation :

 

2: “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”

A raisin is a dried up grape that has lost its juice under a hot sun.

The Raisin is a dried up sweet grape that has been dried under a sun. Hughes

tries to compare a dream to a grape, starting out succulent and dries as the

sun comes along. As it shows that its lost its looks but still nourishes some

kind of taste.

2^nd Annotation :

2: “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”

A raisin so long sitting is becoming unfulfilled, it loses its “juice” over time and literally shrinks down to nothing to nothing worth of dreaming anymore.

 

Imagine you are told that your goal cannot be fulfilled; until society decides to change that but you must wait until that happens. You are not even allowed to look for the job you can do or even have an interest in. You now don’t know how long it will take until you have been granted the right to do so. Now, you feel like in this lifetime will my dream will never come true that everyone will be equal. Most likely your talent, passion, dreams and hope is going to dry up.

As Hughes stated in the poem “Or fester like a sore —/ And then run” ³. Nasty as it sounds you might imagine an open wound filled with pus and blood being lanced. But, here the speaker refers what happens to a dream deferred that is exactly what happens. In literal terms when you want a dream to heal, it doesn’t always do so. Instead it just gets worse, infected, painful and longer to heal. If the dream festers it becomes infected in dissatisfaction and painful to stand. Which can cause future problems of crime and harm others that caused a delay in their dreams.

 

1^st Annotation:

 

3: “Or fester like a sore and then run”

Sore is a great mental pain, distress, or sorrow. Fester refers to the

development of a pus; underneath a closed surface infested with

bacteria. Refers to if a dream does not dry up it will fester like a sore (boil)

meaning if you have a boil you have to treat before it worsens and gets

severely infected. If gets infected then it will fester and run it take longer for it to heal

 2^nd Annotation:

 

3: “Or fester like a sore and then run”

Suggests that an incomplete dream can become excruciating painful over

time to the dreamer referring to a festering sore that goes untreated. Or was

The word “run” & implies to the incomplete dream that might “run away”?

 

It’s ironic when he uses words like raisin, sore, rotten meat, syrupy sweet, to compare to a dream put on hold. He states in a dream deferred “Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet” ⁴. This line refers to dreams that have been left out like pancake syrup or honey unused for a couple of months. Hughes reminds of us of pancakes when he uses word choices like syrupy. By word choices like that make us think things have become slowed down in the poem. It’s like dreams are being stuck on the bottom of the syrup bottle.

1^st Annotation:

 

4:  “Or crust and sugar over syrupy sweet”

It suggests to when dreams are forced to be idle that are harden to be

unusable. Dreams that are have been separated from goals and only formed

destruction. A dream deferred can be covered up by society. Being covered

up rather than being exposed.

 

2^nd Annotation:

4: “Or crust and sugar over syrupy sweet”

The phrase in the poem is used as a metaphor for an insecure surface, and to

show something bad that is bubbling.

In the second stanza Langston Hughes gives a suggestion as he states “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load” ⁵. In this suggestion he uses words like “maybe” stating maybe that the dream goal just sags like bearing a heavy load on your mind. Things that sag are usually old and relating to weight. This where a dream is a burden meaning the dreamer has lost all energy in his goals.

1^st Annotation:

 

5: “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load”

Not, a question but a suggestion that some dreams deferred will sag like its

heavy to bear as it weighs on your mind. Sagging things are usually old.

Things that are heavy make things sag relating to weight of something. A

load refers to when we have lots of things on our minds.

Where the dream is a burden and it does not give off energy anymore

burden to dreamers.

2^nd Annotation:

 

5: “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load”

Burden: Duty, Responsibility

Something that is carried; worrisome.

 

The last stanza has returned back to the one line rhetorical question “Or does it explode”? ⁶. This time we see a metaphor instead of a simile; the speaker uses an explosion as a metaphor. What kind of things can cause explosions? Well simply bombs explode and cause massive or small destructions when dreams are deferred the dreamer will lose hope, and may explode with anger, despair, and cause destruction to humanity or oppose a threat to self and others. This word of explosion in this stanza refers mostly to when African – American citizens had no equality and slowly it erupted into the Civil Rights Movement for all African-American citizens.

1^st Annotation:

 

6: “Or does it explode?”

When times in America were hard for Black citizens. A time no Black citizen

had proper equality and America scattered their dreams of equality in half.

Something insane was mostly likely to happen and it did called the Civil

Rights Movement. Bombs explode and cause massive or small destructions when dream

is deferred it will lose hope, someone may explode into rage with despair,

anger, cause destruction to humanity or oppose harm to self and humanity.

 

2^nd Annotation:

6: “Or does it explode”

Shows images conjured by the word “explode” that foreshadow

chaos that is slowing rising within the African-American people.

Citations: 

Meyer, Michael. Poetry : an introduction 6^th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin’s,2010. Print.

 

Poetry @ Suite 101. Linda Sue Grimes. Feb 1, 2007

 

http://lindasuegrimes.suite101.com/hughes—harlem–a-dream-deferred–a11137

 

Squidoo. 2012.

 

http://www.squidoo.com/dream-deferred

 

Helium. Dolores Moore. Oct 25, 2009

 

http://www.helium.com/items/1628305-harlem-by-langston-hughes—a-threat-of-things-to-come

 

Cummings Study Guides. Michael J. Cummings. 2007

 

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides4/harlem.html

 

Dictionary. 2012

 

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/burden?s=t