Similarities Between Dickinson And Langston Hughes

“Dreams Deferred,” by Langston Hughes and “Hope is a Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickinson are similar poems. Their poems both have similar imagery and literary devices. Although the poems are also extremely different, the authors have different driving forces, tones, and ideas. The authors’ two poems really show their true colors when compared with each other. And it shows just how they see the world. In his poem, Langston uses metaphors to show a sense of distress and even a slight warning to others. The line “-or does it explode?” (12) is an indirect metaphor referring to the way people ignore their dreams. And if left unattended for too long of a time, somebody will explode like a bomb. This also conveys a sense of anger and fear, almost pessimism . In Emily Dickinson’s poem, Dickinson uses metaphors in the opposite way. The line “Hope is a thing with feathers-” (1) is also an indirect metaphor. The line is referring to hope as a bird. This line is important because birds are meant to fly, not be stuck on the ground. In Dickinson’s poem, there is a strong feeling felt, one that makes you

In Langston’s poem, he uses alliteration in his poem to insert optimistic feelings in a rather pessimistic writing. This is shown in the poem when Hughes writes “Syrupy Sweet” (8). I believe this is optimistic because the words convey a sense of security for a moment. Knowing that you have this treat in front of you that you want, but once its gone, its gone, and you will never get it back. This also wraps back to the metaphors about keeping dreams alive. On the other side of the spectrum we have Dickinson’s poem. Her detailed writing is also filled with a lot of the same emotions. In the poem, she uses the words “Strangest Sea” (10). This gives the reader the emotion of fear in the world. This tells the readers about how the bird is being bashed by life, yet still keeps going because it cannot be held