Langston Hughes: from “Montage of a Dream Deferred”
Posted by matt on 12 February 2008
Harlem
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Samantha said
We are studying Labgston Hughes in my high school AP Language and Composition class. My partner and I have been required to disect this particular poem. I loved it until now, because when you truly delve into its imagery it looses its purpose. So just a forewarning if you like this poem don’t think too hard on it.
matt said
Hi Samantha, I really really really appreciate your comment for its honesty and insight. I think your comment points toward a more general “problem” (perhaps a problem of perception?) with respect to what we’re taught about poems and how we’re expected to react to them. I will post a more general reaction to this more general issue, using your excellent closing line.
As far as this famous poem by Langston Hughes is concerned, may I suggest you ask yourself: what made me love it originally? (This is a most beloved American poem. I love it, and so does Danny Glover!) If you write down the things you loved about it (and no one can tell you what those are), you might then write down what’s happened to cause you to not love it. (You’ve suggested the close analysis of its imagery). Write that down too.
Wait 10 years, and reread the poem and your notes. See where time has left this poem for you. I know this is probably not helpful for your immediate needs. But the exercise may one day leave you surprised. The idea is not that you’ll necessarily love the poem down the road, but the distance may help you grasp the “betrayal” that separates “once loved” and “not loved.” Just a thought.
If you have time to respond, I’m very interested in hearing why the analysis of the imagery makes you feel the poem has lost its purposes. Meanwhile, thanks very much for commenting, Matt
Cheyenne Bryant said
i really like the poem! I think that it has a very meaningful purpose and a good message