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?
Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Langston Hughes better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.
this poem really touches the heart
I like explosions! I think at the end you should put that it does explode!!!!!!!!! YEEEEAAAAHHHH!
el lituratura es muy buen. me gusta la definition estrecho.
this is a magnificent poem…really touches the heart, know what i mean? but yeah…email me if there are anymore as awesome as this one
this is a very well written poem
I don’t know if we can write rebutals to poems on here or not but I just wanted to ask everyone what they thought. So here it goes:
*****Alone*****
What happens to someone left alone?
Do they try to make it on their own?
Or do they give up and think its no use?
Do they dry up like clothes put out on the line?
Or continue to grow like grapes on a vine?
Maybe, just maybe, they take the time to see what they can really be.
Or do they just decide to run forever?
Be honest people…What do you think? I can handle the truth!
this poem is great i loved it. it is an insprational poem for all and this sounds really cheesey so i’ll stop typing right about now.
WE ARE SELLING ALL KIND OF MOBILE PHONES AT A CHEAP PRICES
WE ARE SELLING THE MOTOROLA RAZOR V3 AT JUST……… $150USD
WE ARE SELLING THE MOTOROLA MPX 300 AT JUST …………$130USD
WE ARE SELLING THE MOTOROLA MPX 200 ………………$125USD
WE ARE SELLING THE NOKIA 9500 AT JUST /…………….$200USD
WE ARE SELLING THE NOKIA 7710 AT JUST…………….$190USD
WE ARE SELLING THE NOKIA N90 AT JUST …………….$210USD
WE ARE SELLING THE NEXTEL I860 AT JUST ……………$110usd
WE ARE SELLING THE NOKIA N70 AT JUST ………………$150USD
WE ARE SELLING THE NEXTEL I930 AT JUST ……………..$130
WE ARE SELLING THE NOKIA 8850 SPECIAL EDITION AT JUST…… $150USD
WE ARE SELLING THE NOKIA 8850 GOLD EDITION AT JUST… -$126USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SONY ERICSSON P910 AT JUST …….$160USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SONY ERICSSON K500i,AT JUST ……… $100USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SONY ERICSSON S700i AT JUST …… $150USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SONY ERICSSON P900 AT JUST ……$150USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SONY ERICSSON Z1010 AT JUST …..$167USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG D500 AT JUST ………$180USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-T500 Champagne AT JUST …$130 USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-T200 AT JUST………..$123USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-T400 AT JUST…………$69USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-S300 AT JUST……….. $69 USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-E600 AT JUST …….$149USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-D410 AT JUST ……..$150USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-S105 AT JUST ……$110USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG SGH-P100 AT JUST …….$100USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG E310C FOR JUST ….$99USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG E330C FOR JUST ,,,,…. $128USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SAMSUNG E800C FOR JUST …..$189USD
WE ARE SELLING THE ALCATEL One Touch 501 FOR JUST….$39USD
WE ARE SELLING THE CALCATEL One Touch 311 FOR JUST……… $35 USD
WE ARE SELLING THE ALCATEL One Touch 511 FOR JUST ……… $49USD
WE ARE SELLING THE PANASONIC GD67 FOR JUST …………. $49USD
WE ARE SELLING THE PANASONIC GD92 FOR JUST $69USD
WE ARE SELLING THE PANASONIC GD90 FOR JUST …… $69USD
WE ARE SELLING THE PANASONIC GD75 FOR JUST $79USD
WE ARE SELLING THE PANASONIC GD55 FOR JUST …..$79USD
WE ARE SELLING THEPANASONIC GD95 FOR JUST …….$79USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS C45 FOR JUST ……….$39USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS C55 FOR JUST $49USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS M35i FOR JUST…… $59USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS S45i FOR JUST …..$79USD
WE ARE SELLING THEC SIEMENS S40 FOR JUST….. $89USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS SL42 FOR JUST….. $89USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS ME4 FOR JUST $79USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS SL45i FOR JUST ….$69USD
WE ARE SELLING THE SIEMENS S55 FOR JUST ….$69USD
mail and get back to us at authenticmobilephone@gmail.com
what shawn dennis said. if you dont care about a dream whats the point of dreaming them. i think that poem is great and it plays in our everday lives. i know it does in mine.
I think the poem was good
this story was ok..
that is a great poem. if n/e body has poems or knows of n/e like this one e-mail me it please. and thank you in advance
AS A POET AND WRITTER I FIND MY MUSE WITHIN LANSTON HUGHES POETRY AND WRITTINGS. I FEEL THE STRUGGLE AND WITNESS THE INDIFFERENCE WITHIN OUR SOCIAL AND POLITICAL STRUCTURE. IT ALLOWS ME TO PLANT MY SEEDS OF WITNESS AND HOPEFULLY IGNITE ANOTHERS FIRE AND SENSE OF RESPONSIBLITY TO MY PEOPLE FIRST, AND SECONDLY TO JOIN ONCE AGAIN A GROUP OF PEOPLE WILLING TO PICK UP THE STRUGGLE AND PROCEED FORWARD UNTIL WE CAN TRUELY CALL THIS OUR COUNTRY
Great similie and deep feelings!! Though this is an assignment I need tp work on, there’s no pressure. I felt relieved instead. Reading such an inspiring poem gave me strength again. As a big fan of Martin Luther King Jr., I love the indication and the spirit of this”Dream Deffered”.
This poem has played a major part in my life. I’ve used time after time for projects and papers. Its just so real. If we don’t follow our dreams then what is the point of having them?
I feel that the usage of similies to portray the postponed dreams, goals, and desires of the mass population is brilliant. The usage of the the metaphor in the poem’s climactic moment is just as ingenious of Hughes. The representation of the black population’s frustration, and their imanent explosion is well fitting. These explosions can easily be represented with race riots that so often occured during the times where the Jim Crow Laws were rampid in the United States.
This is a great poem by langston hughes. In just a few lines he was able to convey black opression ( a.k.a the dream) into a metaphor that carried a significant (and sometimes controversial)meaning. Well done.
I first read this poem in my Comp. 2 class.As a disabled white woman I felt empathy afterwards.
Well, I have to memorize this poem in my Writing and Communications class my Senior year, and I am glad I did. This is such a rich and well developed poem, describing various outcomes of a dream deferred, raising in severty each time until ultimatly, the worst outcome arises. This poem originally was intented to convey the angry and fustration of Harlem in the 1910’s to the 1940’s. Still as brillant today as it was 50 years ago, this poem is can be desribed in one word: Timeless.
I wonder if the film A Raisin in the Sun took its title from this brilliant poem?