An Analysis of Langston Hughes' Poem 'Harlem'

In the famous single,“Fireflies”, there were many uses of similes and metaphors to show his vivid dreams when he was young. In stanza 6, Adam Young sang “Cause I feel like such an insomniac”. This is an example of simile, Adam Young is comparing himself to a person who is regularly unable to sleep. In the last stanza, Adam Young sang “Because my dreams are bursting at the seams”. This shows an example of metaphor, because he is comparing two thoughts without using like or as. In stanza 7, Adam Young sang “I got misty eyes as they said farewell”. This is another example of metaphor, Adam Young is trying to convey the idea that he is going to cry as the fireflies said a farewell. By using many

In his poem, Flames and Dangling Wire, the first line immediately sets the scene allowing us to have a sense of where we are. The use of a simile in “The smoke of different fires in a row, like fingers spread and dragged to smudge” implies the filthiness of the tip and the smoke rising from the fires. This also causes the air to

In the famous single,“Fireflies”, there are many uses of similes and metaphors to show his vivid dreams when he was young. In stanza 6, Adam Young sang “Cause I feel like such an insomniac”. This is an example of simile, Adam Young is comparing himself to a person who is regularly unable to sleep. In the last stanza,

Langston Hughes was a successful African-American poet of the Harlem renaissance in the 20th century. Hughes' had a simple and cultured writing style. "Harlem" is filled with rhythm, jazz, blues, imagery, and evokes vivid images within the mind. The poem focuses on what could happen to deferred dreams. Hughes' aim is to make it clear that if you postpone your dreams you might not get another chance to attain it--so take those dreams and run. Each question associates with negative effects of deferred dreams. The imagery from the poem causes the reader to be pulled in by the writer's words.

The author first uses a simile and compares a dream that is deferred to a raisin that dry's up and the next line asks whether it festers like a sore and then run which is also a simile and personification because dreams can't run. The poem "A Dream Deferred" questions what happens to a dream that fails or goes unrealized. Where does

He asks whether the dream would “dry up/ like a raisin in the sun” (ll. 2-3). In other words, he ponders if it would go away forever and never be achieved. Right after, he asks whether it would “fester like a sore” (l. 4). Many people who do not or cannot pursue their dreams think about their ideal life and resent their current status. Hughes continues thinking about what happens to dreams deferred by making the effects of living an unsatisfied life more tangible through comparisons. For instance, he asks whether the dream would rot like meat, spoil like sweets, or sag like it is holding something heavy. Finally, Hughes sets apart a final thought italicized in a new stanza when he writes, “[o]r does [the dream] explode?” (l. 11). Though not exactly a simile, it does conjure up images of something going off like a bomb. When something is ignored so long, or if an entire group of people is continuously discriminated against, it is only a matter of time before something has to

Imagery in Harlem "What happens to a dream deferred?" Written by Langston Hughes, "Harlem" is a poem that talks about the consequences of a dream being deferred or postponed. He creates an intriguing and vivid image of the human reaction to the deferred dream. The name of the poem itself suggests to the history of a neighborhood in New York called Harlem. In "Harlem," Langston Hughes applies various rhetorical techniques like similes, imagery, and metaphors to illustrate as to what happens to dream deferred.

Symbolism and Allusion The title “Harlem” is alluding to the Harlem Renaissance, which was a period of great output in music, literature, and the arts by African-Americans. Harlem was also like a safe haven for African-Americans, providing refuge for them from the South. Harlem may also be a symbol of safety, freedom, and opportunity in the poem.

Langston Hughes was one of the most important writers and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance. One of his most prominent work was a poem was a poem called Harlem. The speaker starts off in this poem by asking what happens to a dream deferred and tries to come up with possible answers. He wonders if dreams dried up like a raisin in the sun, ooze like a wound and then run, smell like rotten mean or develop a sugary crust. Hughes wrote this poem to address the limitations of the American Dream for African Americans. During the 1950s, when this poem was written in, America was racially segregate and African Americans had a legacy of slavery on their backs that rendered them a lower class. Hughes wrote this poem three years before the case Brown vs. Board of Education that declared states to establish separate public schools for

By far, the most obvious and significant aspect of “Harlem” can be found by the implantation of similes. Each simile used is imperative to understanding the true meaning behind the postponed or ended dream that Hughes references. Hughes implies that many obstacles and challenges exist which can defer a dream. For one, it may “dry up like a raisin in the sun.” Perhaps a dream can lose its livelihood and “dry up” to be soon forgotten. A dream can also “fester like a sore and then run.” The lines imply that a denied dream may constantly be on the mind and be a very uncomfortable subject. Hughes writes a dream can “stink like rotten meat,” which suggests a nauseating sense of

The similes in these lines relate to each line of the poem because the last lines are the speakers waking up from his dream. The speaker begins with his dream just starting, explaining he has been anticipating this moment. The speaker must have a fond interest of Lucia because he seems to care about her through the characteristics he describes her in. The poem begins with the speaker dreaming of being transformed into a vine, as he is growing and free-flowing. The vine is automatically mentioned because the speaker’s love beings to grow for Lucia.

An example of his use of similes is “...and his eyes have all the seeming, of a demon's that is dreaming…”.

No matter how frightened the enemies are, they will not “shed in vain”. Therefore, in line 9, the enemies are described as “common foe” which is not too scary, so the allies can have hope while fighting them. In line 13, the speaker compares the enemies with murderers which give readers a feeling that the enemies are immoral: what they do is against humanity. On the other hand, in Hughes’s poem, he uses common, food-related scenes, to express his feeling. In line 3, he describes that a dream deferred is “like a raisin dry up in the sun”. Once a grape has become the raisin, it has no juice remaining. Hughes compares juice to hope which means there is no hope at all, it will “fester like a sore-and then run?” (4) In Hughes’ opinion, the dream deferred only becomes more serious, and cannot be healed. The next line, “Does it stink like rotten meat? (6)” shows dreams do not go away easily, they will linger, and spoil reminding people of their unfortunate fate. Also, people must take actions to dispose of rotten meat. Hughes repeatedly depicts sickening images to convince readers that dreams cannot be deferred. Especially the last line, “Or does it explode”

Langston Hughes poem Harlem “Harlem” the theme of this poem is pursuing dreams, not letting go till it comes to the path. But nevertheless, if you pursue afterward your dreams, that doesn’t mean they are bound to come true. Many blacks didn’t have their dream come true. African American dreams were deferred, thousands of blacks believed as

In the opening of the poem the speaker uses a visual image that is also a simile to compare a dream deferred to a raisin. "Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?" The simile in the question is comparing a dream deferred to raisin in the sun. Like a raisin, a dream deferred shrivels up