Harlem, An Analysis of a Langston Hughes Poem
The short but inspirational poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes addresses what happens to aspirations that are postponed or lost. The brief, mind provoking questions posed throughout the poem allow the readers to reflect--on the effects of delaying our dreams. In addition, the questions give indications about Hughes' views on deferred dreams.
"Harlem" is an open form poem. The poem consists of three stanzas that do not have a regular meter. To catch the reader's attention, the writer made sure that specific words and questions stood out. As a result, the lengths of the lines vary and certain syllables are stressed in every line. The first line in the poem: is the longest line, it is separated from the rest of the poem, and it grabs the reader's attention. The last line in the poem: is separated from the rest of the poem, is italicized to show the importance of this particular question, enables the reader to envision the consequences of putting of a dream. The poem has a rhyme scheme of abcbc ded eff. The poet chose not to use a consistent rhythmic pattern. For example, sun and run (lines three and five), meat and sweet (lines six and eight), and load and explode (lines ten and eleven) were the only lines that contained exact rhyming. The assonances noted were the words: sun and run (lines three and five) and meat and sweet (lines six and eight). In addition, the words dream deferred (line one) and syrupy sweet (line eight) are the alliterations that were used.
Concrete imagery and similes are utilized throughout the poem. The concrete imagery arouses the reader's fives senses--as a result they get a better insight of what the poem is conveying. Hug...
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Hughes' expressed a feeling of intense disdain of deferring dreams. Through this poem he is trying to convey to the readers that postponing dreams is not a good idea. In addition, when you have the chance to acquire your dreams take advantage of it while the option is available. "Harlem" was published in 1951, during a time when there was racial inequality. The title of the poem, "Harlem" shares the same name of the city where Hughes was recognized for being one of the key figures during the Harlem Renaissance.
Works Cited
Rampersad, Arnold and Roessel, David The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes.
Alfred A. Knopf Inc.: The Haddon Craftmen (1995): 3-20.
Roberts, Edgar V and Jacobs, Henry E. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing.
6th ed. Upper Saddle: Prentice Hall (2000): 787.
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement during the 1920s and 1930s, in which African-American art, music and literature flourished. It was significant in many ways, one, because of its success in destroying racist stereotypes and two, to help African-Americans convey their hard lives and the prejudice they experienced. In this era, two distinguished poets are Langston Hughes, who wrote the poem “A Dream Deferred” and Georgia Douglas Johnson who wrote “My Little Dreams”. These two poems address the delayment of justice, but explore it differently, through their dissimilar uses of imagery, tone and diction.
The speaker in “Harlem” is an African-American activist in Harlem who is fighting for rights of the African-Americans who live in Harlem. Although written by the same author, “Harlem” and “Harlem Night Song” have similarities and differences in literary devices, tone and mood. In “Harlem Night Song”, Hughes used non-consistent rhyme. In the poem, it states, “The Harlem roof-tops/Moon is shining./Night sky is blue./Stars are great drops/Of
His poems established him as a well known poet in Harlem. In two of his poems one titled “Mother to Son” and the other “Harlem” both have some comparison and contrast between the two. The poem “Mother to Son” is more of a free lyric flowing poem. In this poem Langston Hughes gets the message across in a powerful attack. The poem is narrated from a mother’s viewpoint and the wisdom she gives her son as read in the following lines:
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes is a poem that talks about what happens when we postpones our dreams. The poem is made up of a series of similes and it ends with a metaphor. The objective of the poem is to get us to think about what happens to a dream that is put off, postponed; what happens when we create our very own shelve of dreams? The “dream” refers to a goal in life, not the dreams we have while sleeping, but our deepest desires. There are many ways to understand this poem; it varies from person to person. Some may see this poem as talking about just dreams in general. Others may see it as African-American’s dreams.
Rhyme-The last words of line one and line three of each stanza rhyme. The last words of line two and line four of each stanza also rhyme. The rhyming words contribute to the rhythm and flow of the poem.
In the end, we see that the poem Harlem is closely tied to the rash of disappointments that each member of the family faces. The central theme of the poem is tied directly to the family dynamic of the Youngers. Each member is too busy trying to bring happiness to the family in their own way that they forget to actually communicate with themselves in a positive way.
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. “Harlem [Dream Deferred]” The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer.
During the 1920's and 30’s, America went through a period of astonishing artistic creativity, the majority of which was concentrated in one neighborhood of New York City, Harlem. The creators of this period of growth in the arts were African-American writers and other artists. Langston Hughes is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the period know as the Harlem Renaissance. With the use of blues and jazz Hughes managed to express a range of different themes all revolving around the Negro. He played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance, helping to create and express black culture. He also wrote of political views and ideas, racial inequality and his opinion on religion. I believe that Langston Hughes’ poetry helps to capture the era know as the Harlem Renaissance.
Langston Hughes was probably the most well-known literary force during the Harlem Renaissance. He was one of the first known black artists to stress a need for his contemporaries to embrace the black jazz culture of the 1920s, as well as the cultural roots in Africa and not-so-distant memory of enslavement in the United States. In formal aspects, Hughes was innovative in that other writers of the Harlem Renaissance stuck with existing literary conventions, while Hughes wrote several poems and stories inspired by the improvised, oral traditions of black culture (Baym, 2221). Proud of his cultural identity, but saddened and angry about racial injustice, the content of much of Hughes’ work is filled with conflict between simply doing as one is told as a black member of society and standing up for injustice and being proud of one’s identity. This relates to a common theme in many of Hughes’ poems: that dignity is something that has to be fought for by those who are held back by segregation, poverty, and racial bigotry.
Hughes, Langston. "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)." Literature and the Writing Process. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River. Prentice, 2002. 534.
Langston Hughes also uses diction in "Harlem." "Or does it explode?" This powerful use of diction compares a dream deferred to an explosion. This really makes the reader understand that a dream deferred can simply explode inn your face if you don't use it. "Or crust and sugar over-like a sugary sweet?" This use of diction shows how a dream deferred can appear good but actually be very bad in the end. This is different because the rest of the poem is negative, and this phrase appears positive at first. However, it is actually negative, because a dream deferred may just not be usable anymore. It may just disintegrate. Hughes powerful use of diction convey his theme very well.
population is oppressed and must ignore or postpone their dreams. The more dreams are postponed
Langston Hughes is one of the most famous poets of the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Mississippi in 1902 and later moved to Ohio where he attended Central High School. When Hughes graduated high school he went to Mexico to visit his father and while crossing the Mississippi River he was inspired to write “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, which was his first published poem when he was eighteen years old. When Hughes returned to the United States in 1924 the Harlem Renaissance was in “full swing”. In 1925 at the age of twenty-three Hughes received an award for his poem “The Weary Blues”, Hughes was famous for incorporating blues and jazz rhymes into his poetry, which is what he did in his poem “The Weary Blues”. Hughes was at a banquet where he received an award for his poem “The Weary Blues” and was asked by a man named Carl Van Vechten if he had enough poems to make a book. Hughes said yes and Van Vechten promised that he would find Hughes ...
Langston Hughes was an activist for the African-American community and made significant artistic contributions to the Harlem Renaissance throughout his career. In one of his most famous poems, “Harlem [Dream Deferred]”, he addresses the limitations and oppression of African Americans after the Great Depression. Many African Americans dreamed of equality, but often times that dream became neglected and pushed aside. In his poem, Hughes responds to a question about a deferred dream with a series of vivid similes, inquiring what happens to a constantly ignored dream.
Hughes, a.k.a. Langston, a.k.a. The "Harlem". The [1951] Literature. 5th ed.