Tuesday, August 28, 2012

"A Dream Deferred"-Langston Hughes

      When I read this poem the first time, I did not look at the author's name.  However, when I found out it was written by Langston Hughes, I reread it.  With this, I was able to see through a completely different perspective.  In this case, who the author is alters the meaning of the poem.
Langston Hughes
      Initially, I thought poem was referring to chances/opportunities not taken as dreams.  This made sense until when Hughes asks, "Or [does it] crust and sugar over--like a syrupy sweet?" (Hughes).  The idea of chances not taken being a desirable thing did not seem to make logical sense.  Then, I looked up the definition to deferred.  In this, I found the title has significance to the meaning of the poem.  Deferred, I found, means to postpone or put off until later.
       When discussing dreams that we have put off, Hughes wants to know if the dreams are eventually lost or if they bother us for a while but eventually leave us.  Do they disgust us or do we see them as a fantasy that still not out of reach?  Then, Hughes makes his only declaratory statement, "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load."  Without knowing who the author is, one is unaware of how the issue of race is addressed in this work.  During his lifetime, the majority of an African American man's big dreams were probably deferred, and the idea of accomplishing them was nearly unfathomable.  With this new point of view, the poem changes drastically.