“Dream Deffered” is a well-acclaimed short poem by Langston Hughes. Hughes has wrote several poems while teaching poetry in various American schools. Hughes addresses one of his favorite topics in this poem and addresses some relevant issues of the American society. The author is known for his realistic portrayal of social issues and addresses African American dreams in his short poem in a vivid and communicative manner. This paper intends to discuss the poem, “Dream Deffered”.
Hughes’ short poem was published in the year 1951. Hughes describes how African Americans were racially segregated in the 1950’s in the American society. They were seen as slaves by their white counterparts who treated African Americans as second grade citizens. The Author in his poem indicates that how African Americans suffered even after they were given equal rights by American constitution. The author, in his poem, indicates that though changes were coming but there was still a lot to change (Hughes, 2008).
Meter of this poem varies but there is a rhythm in the poem. Lyrical quality with echo also looks good. Words are chosen very carefully and they are placed at appropriate places. The poem has total eleven lines but there is no similarity of words in these lines. Line one has eight syllables while line two has four. The same pattern is followed in other lines of the poem. Such irregularity is noticeable and gives the poem a serrated edge.
Sharp edged lines of this poem are full of message and the author asks questions in six lines of his poem. The poem is irregular in terms of placing of words and is equally sharp for the policy makers and people who segregated from African Americans in the contemporary society. Even after asking sharp questions, poet does not use intimidating words for anybody. The author through this poem has raised voices of millions of oppressed African Americans.
Hughes, as an African American, has faced various discriminatory situation in his life. Hughes expresses the same anguish in his poem. Hughes does not indicate anything about the narrator of this poem. The author also does not indicate what dream he is talking about. Hughes lets readers to interpret the dream and decide whether their dreams would be realized ever. There is a silence on various issues in this poem but the author indicates that dreams do not vanish simply and they go through a process of evaluation.
Hughes suggests that African Americans were ghettoized in that period and it was a painful experience for a section of the American society. The author suggests that African Americans were subjected to various sufferings and there was no hope for this community. Their dreams were shattered and people believed that they will never say equal position in the society. The author suggests that seeing dreams was not less than a crime for Africans Americans and they were second grade citizens of the United States of America.
Hughes’ poem reflects the moods of millions of Africans Americans in the era of post World War II. Hughes suggests that the war was over and the great depression was also over but the wait of African American community was not over. They dreamt high but got nothing in the so called liberal society of the United States of America.
Having observed an overview and succinct analysis of the abovementioned poem, this paper concludes that this poem is very communicative in nature and the author has expressed his agony in this poem. Hughes has expressed his agony in this poem and portrays the sufferings and racial discriminations of African Americans in 1950’s. The poem is very communicative and asks some very relevant questions from American policy makers.
Reference
Hughes, L. (2008). Dream Deferred. In Robert DiYanni (Ed), Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry and Drama (p. 705). New York: McGraw-Hill.
