Name: Rumaiya Tasnim

ID: 1731170030
Course: ENG115
Section: 12
Assignment: 01

Comparison between Harlem and Dreams

A great African- American poet Langston Hughes wrote two poems ‘Harlem’ and

‘Dreams’. The poet wanted to express his thoughts about ‘dream’ in both poems, but there

are differences in meaning & analysis between these two poems.

In ‘Harlem’ the poet gives the possible effects if the dream is postponed through the

external factor. On the other hand, in ‘Dreams’ the poet advises the readers to keep a dream

so that they can get better success in the future.

Langston Hughes wrote the poem ‘Harlem’ and desired to show depression of black

African American people for their deferred dream. The poet of ‘Harlem' begins the poem

with a rhetorical question ‘what happens to a dream deferred’ and wants the reader to think

about the answer. The first four answers are in the form of questions because probably the

poet gets confused. In the first stanza, a simile ‘Raisin in the sun’ means grapes are dried up

in the sun. By this, the poet said that excitement of dream dies through external factor like

opinions of others in the society that bring a change of the dream. In the second stanza, a

Page | 1
simile ‘sore’ means wound and pus will run out. It means the life of man becomes toxic and

frustration never heals. In the third stanza, a simile ‘rotten meat’ means it spreads the horrible

smell around. Similarly, not only the dreamer suffers his pain affects the people around him.

In stanza four, the simile ‘syrupy sweet' means honey or maple syrup if left open too long in

the air, a thin layer of crust form over it due to some kind of fungal reaction. So the crust is a

hindrance towards the fulfilment of the dream. In stanza five, a line with simile ‘heavy load’

means the dream is a load now. It is a burden to his soul. It stays with the carrier for the rest

of his life until the day of his death. In stanza six, the poet advises to protest and break the

barrier and go for the dream.

On the other hand, in the first stanza of ‘Dreams' poet tries to give an important

message to the readers. The line ‘Hold fast to dream’ means the poet gives us the advice to

keep a dream so that we can achieve our goal. The line' For if dreams die, life is a broken-

winged bird that can't fly,' has a metaphor ‘bird' means a bird has wings for flying. The bird

cannot fly without wings. In the same way, if we do not have any dream, then we will get

puzzled to take a right decision and we do not know that was to have to go and what is our

goal and how to fulfil our goals. Moreover, we cannot go ahead to be successful in the future.

In the second stanza, line ‘Hold fast to dream' is repetition and it means the poet gives

emphasises to hold dreams. Furthermore, the poet wanted to compare the life of a dreamless

person with a ‘barren field, frozen with snow’. If the field is barren, then no crop will be

produced. In the same way, if a man doesn't keep a dream then he is not able to perform

better activities.

Page | 2
 The similarities between the two poems are that an African American poet Langston

Hughes wrote both poems. The poetic devices such as simile and metaphor are used in both

poems.

The differences between the two poems are that ‘Harlem’ has one rhetorical question

and six stanzas with eleven lines. The line of this poem ‘What happens to a dream deferred’

has alliteration ‘D’. The poet wrote ‘Harem' at a later age with a pessimistic mind and full of

experiences.

The other poem ‘Dreams’ of Hughes has two stanzas with eight lines and alliteration

‘D’ in the line ‘For if dreams die’. Moreover, there is no rhetorical question in ‘Dreams'. The

poet wrote ‘Dreams' when he was young with a positive mind and full of expectations.

In conclusion, the poem ‘Harlem’ shows the bad impacts if the dream is deferred and

the poem ‘Dreams’ gives us instructions for keeping a dream. So, we should keep a dream for

better success in the future.

Page | 3