What Is The Mood Of The Poem Harlem By Langston Hughes

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Langston Hughes uses poems to express not only the American dream, but also the dreams of individuals. He also writes about dreams in many different forms such as a current dream we are trying to reach, dreams that we did not succeed in fulfilling or put off, and how we must fight to achieve our dreams even though things get hard and, we feel like giving up. Everyone has dreams they are trying to reach, dreams they never reached or have not reached yet, and dreams they are fighting for. This makes these poems easy for people to relate to and understand on a deeper level. Dreams are not just something we have when we are asleep, but also the dreams we have for ourselves when we are awake. The first poem is “Harlem”. Harlem is about a dream deferred, which means a dream that is put off. The technical element of this poem are tone, speaker, rhythm, structure, and his use of metaphors. The tone of this poem is frustration this is seen with the use of the negative words in the poem such as fester, run, crust, sag, heavy, …show more content…

However, he should never give up on his dreams even when things get hard. Just because thing may get difficult it does not mean he should walk back down the stairs or stay on the same step, “so boy, don’t you turn back. / don’t you set down on the steps” (Hughes). The mother explains how it is so much harder to give up on a dream than it is to fight for a dream, “don’t you set down on the steps/ cause you find it’s kinder hard” (Hughes). The mother is still fighting even though it has not been easy for her, “for I’se still goin’, honey, / I’se still climin,’/ and life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (Hughes). The mother in this poem uses her struggles to reach her dream as inspiration for her son not to give up on his dreams. This poem made me think about how dreams worth having are worth fighting to

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