Key Information:
- Title: “Harlem”
- Poet: Langston Hughes (1910-1967)
- Published: 1951, Montage of a Dream Deferred
Theme: The Cost of Social Injustice, The Individual and The Community
Literary Device: Allusion, Simile, Imagery, Rhetorical Question.
Summary
Harlem” is another notable poem by Langston Hughes. This poem was written in 1951. He has highlighted in this poem what kind of disaster can happen if people are prevented from dreaming. And he comes to the conclusion that such a situation will never bring positive results.
At the very beginning of the poem, the poet asks the readers what might happen if one is forbidden to dream. He outlined several possible scenarios. The speaker states, if people are prevented from dreaming, will they dry like raisins? Or there will be a condition like rotting in the wound. Or it will smell like rotting flesh. Or if the dessert is left open, a hard coating will form on top. He then makes the statement that if people are prevented from dreaming, it may hang to one side like a heavy burden. Or this repressed dream can explode like a bomb.
Through this poem, the poet expresses the sadness that he endures due to being a Black American. But how long can this oppression be tolerated? One day maybe the suffering of these black people will burst out.
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