Upon first sight of Langston Hughes famous 1950’s poem, you catch a title loaded with antecedent implications into the history of a city, but most importantly the culture that made this city a hub for African American history. Immediately we are taken into the drop back of Harlem and, at the time written, the tension between races prior to the Civil Rights Movement. This was a turning point in our country as suppression was commonplace but equally as prevalent as the resistance that grew among those suppressed. With obstacles — lawful, physical and otherwise — standing in the way of aspirations of African American people, there lay a questions heavy on the hearts of those trampled: what happens to a dream deferred? In “Harlem,” Langston Hughes uses purposeful language and imagery to illustrate how “dreams deferred” negatively affects the human spirit by deflating our feelings of worth. This poem remains universal to readers with influence that calls on us to reflect on our own attitude towards failure.
Throughout “Harlem”, Hughes uses sonic imagery that enables the reader’s senses. In line 4 he advances the introductory question, “Or fester like a sore–” (4). Immediately the reader is given a visual of something disgusting, creating a cringeworthy feeling that runs through our skin and identified by a scrunched look on our faces. The word “fester” links to a poisonous irritation that does harm to our body and in turn, our mental state. The same can be said for a scorned dream, a once harmless scab that soon takes over it’s host with a bitterness that can’t be ignored. It’s purpose serves as a constant misery, both physically and mentally draining without the alleviation it needs to heal from it’s affliction. Undeniably, the pain develops into an uncontrollable pain that “festers” until it debilitates our ability to live in content. The physicality of the phrases he uses translate to us relating those feelings to the questions he asks. Hughes’ use of words that engage our physical senses help evoke feelings of irritation, suffering and decay. When posed with the question “What happens to a dream deferred?” (1), we associate the tangible imagery with the intangible: what effective it has on our human psyche.
Hughes continues to express how “a dream deferred” deflates the human spirit in line 6 by instigating, “Does it smell like rotten meat?” (6). This stench makes us recoil at the smell of decomposition, unforgiving and unable to be masked despite our efforts. With its purpose unfulfilled, the decomposition will change the host, both instantly and gradually, with no ability to flourish into the existence it once had. The human spirit shares the same complexities when forced to relinquish its energy into isolation. A dream, nearly tangible and bustling with a life of its own, cannot thrive in the human mind when given no outlet or hope. This dream is unused, hidden away where it can’t be shared or cultivated to its peak. The comparison is so strong that it’s wording sparks a connection to touch and smell: he induces a certain feeling in our minds, producing the feeling of vexation that comes from desiring an unattainable dream forever morphed into the corpse of our former shell.
Straying from the fixed form, Hughes employs a space before lines 9-10 in order to emphasize the context of the phrase, “Maybe it just sags/Like a heavy load.” (9-10). When analyzing the meaning behind “sag” and “heavy”, the reader immediately visuals the stress of weight conceptualized by the space between it’s previous lines. The stress runs analogous to his question of “What happens?”, and physically covers the body in a sinking feeling of defeat. This burden places stress on the mindset of humans, a weight that hinders their passions and motivations and their ability to translate dreams into reality. A discouragement of this magnitude has the power to manifest into load of unexplainable grief — a burden on your shoulders that cannot easily be detached. By utilizing this irregular pattern, Hughes creates a physical representation of “deferred” that resonates with the central theme of how delaying your dreams can affect a human’s attitude by delaying their future. The reader easily relates this bodily deflation into pressure seeded in mental stress from a goal unaccomplished.
After the antagonizing intrusion of questions asked by Hughes, the conclusion of “Harlem” leaves the reader with one more idea to ponder, “Or does it explode?” (11). Although it shares the same nature as the questions that precede it, this line both materially and in connotation differs in its desired influence on the reader. The word “explode” offers a violent, forceful synthesis to the pressure it faces. When asking what happens to a dream deferred, this explosion is a fusion of the supression and resistance of the human spirit in order to adapt and overcome. The turmoil faced, embodied by sores, rotten meat and the burden of a heavy load, is only a catalyst for the possibilities that remain despite them. Framed as another open-ended question, Hughes challenges the reader to answer his call to action — “what happens?”. While some might dwell on the mental roadblocks described in “Harlem”, the poem provides a reflection into the successes of those in history that used dreams deferred to accomplish goals unimaginable and gives us hope to follow in their footsteps.
Originally published 15.10.2019