A Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes
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What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
a
like a raisin in the sun?
b
Or fester like a sore-c
And then run?
b
Does it stink like rotten meat? d
Or crust and sugar over-- e
like a syrupy sweet?
d
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
f
g
Or does it explode?
g
Words:
Fester: inflamed
Sore: wound
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Stink: be offensive giving bad odor
Summary
Our speaker asks what happens if dreams are postponed or put on the back burner.
He offers some possible answers to his question. He wonders if these postponed
dreams dry up like raisins in the sun. He wonders if they fester like sores. He
wonders if they rot like meat or get all crusty, like sugary syrup left out in the open
air. He suggests postponed dreams sag like a heavy load. And, finally, he wonders
whether dreams explode if they are postponed. There's something about this last line
that makes us think it is really the answer to his first question.
Line 1
What happens to a dream deferred?

If we were to answer this question right away, we'd probably say, "Nothing
much, Mr. Speaker, it will probably just fade away."

But there's something about the way our speaker says "dream deferred"
instead of "deferred dream" that makes us realize that we are not in the world
of logical rationale, but rather the far cooler world of poetry, truth telling, and
soul-searching. By beginning this poem with a question, we ,readers, are put
on the spot.
Line 2
Does it dry up

What happens when things dry up? Well, they lose their moisture and their
water. They become small and withered. This line makes us think of deserts
and summers and heat.
Line 3
like a raisin in the sun?
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
Raisins are supposed to be dry, right? They become raisins by sitting in the
sun. Well, actually, raisins begin as grapes and gradually lose their juice when
they are put out in the sun. Raisins are totally delish and tasty, but they're not
quite as succulent as grapes, in our humble opinion.

Line 4
Or fester like a sore—

Eww, "fester." Whenever we hear that word, we can't help but think of an
open wound full of puss and blood.

Usually, things fester when they aren't healing or when they aren't being cared
for properly. Here, our speaker suggests a deferred dream won't heal or go
away.
Line 5
And then run?

We know our speaker is continuing with the wound image here, wondering if
dreams bleed themselves to death if they are ignored.

However, there's something very powerful about the word, "run." We can't
help but think about other meanings for it, meanings like "escape" or "flow."
Line 6
Does it stink like rotten meat?

If dreams are stashed away, will they haunt us like rotten meat haunts us
when it sits too long in the refrigerator? If rotting meat didn't smell so bad,
how much longer do you think it would sit in your fridge? The smell is often
what reminds us to do something about it, to throw it away.

This line stirs our sense of smell, because most of us have had an experience
with the smell of rotten meat before. This is a smell closely associated with
death.

In this line, our speaker makes an interesting distinction between ignoring
dreams and getting rid of them altogether. We are reminded that "a dream
deferred" is an ignored dream, not a canceled dream.
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Line 7
Or crust and sugar over –

What kinds of things crust or sugar over? Honey. Cheese. Candy. Usually
things that left out in the open and that aren't put away properly.

Can dreams be put away properly? Can dreams be preserved if they aren't
pursued?

Our speaker compares dreams to sweet-tasting things, stirring our taste buds
and drawing a contrast to the bitterness of lost dreams.
Line 8
like a syrupy sweet?

Syrup reminds us of pancakes and of sticky hands. Syrup is practically all
sugar, and it's slow-moving too. We know that our speaker isn't describing the
slow-moving part of it, but by choosing the word "syrupy" at this moment, we
feel like things slow down in a poem that moves very quickly.

We imagine dreams being stuck to the counter in a pool of syrup left over
from last Sunday.
Line 9
Maybe it just sags

Sagging things are things that are old. Floorboards sag from the weight of too
many people and too much furniture over the years. Bookshelves can sag
from the weight of too many books. Kindergarteners sag from the weight of
backpacks that are too heavy.

The verb "sag" is directly related to the weight of something. In this way, our
speaker may be pointing out just how important dreams are. They are so
important that they are heavy, and if they are ignored, they will grow to sag.
Line 10
like a heavy load.

The term "heavy load" reminds us of those days when we have a lot on our
minds. You know those days. Someone asks you how you are doing, and all
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of your thoughts and worries come tumbling out of your mouth at full speed
until you say, "Wow, thanks for letting me get that off of my chest."

A load is something you carry, and if it is heavy, then the going will be tough.
Sometimes, others can help you carry your load, but we get the sense the
speaker is referring to a load that cannot be shared or alleviated.
Line 11
Or does it explode?

Just like the first line of this poem, this final line is a question all by itself.
But unlike any other line in the poem, it is italicized, which makes us pay
extra careful attention to it.

The word "explode" seems to us to be both a very dangerous verb and a very
celebratory verb. It reminds us of both bombs and fireworks. More
importantly, however, it makes us think of things that have been gathering
steam and pressure over time and that can no longer suppress this energy.

In the world of this poem, this final line feels almost liberating, but also
violent.
Analysis
1. Dreams
Symbol Analysis
In this poem, our speaker seems to have noticed a disheartening trend – he's noticed
that many people are deferring their dreams, and he's got something to say about it.
As a way of reminding the world of how important dreams are, he offers a series of
possible responses to the central question, "What happens when dreams are put on
hold?" And these responses are kind of sobering.

Line 1: Our speaker offers up a rhetorical question about dreams – that is, a
question that does not have one answer.

Lines 2-8 and 11: Our speaker answers his first rhetorical question about
dreams with five other rhetorical questions.

Lines 9-10: Our speaker offers one answer to his original question in the
form of a declarative sentence.
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2. Foodstuffs and Domestic Life
Symbol Analysis
As he explores what happens when dreams are put on hold, our speaker uses a
series of similes that compare the act of deferring dreams to that of raisins drying
in the sun, meat rotting, sugary syrup crusting over, and heavy loads sagging.
This imagery reminds us of everyday, ordinary tasks and makes us feel like our
speaker is arguing that dreams are as important and as necessary as eating,
.cooking, cleaning, or carrying something
Line 2-3: Our speaker uses simile (notice the word "like") to compare deferred
.dreams to a raisin drying in the sun
Line 4-5: Our speaker uses simile to compare deferred dreams to a festering,
.bleeding sore
.Line 6: Our speaker uses simile to compare deferred dreams to rotten meat
Line 7-8: Our speaker uses simile to compare deferred dreams to sugary things
.that have crusted over
Line 9-10: Our speaker uses simile to compare deferred dreams to heavy loads that
sag.
3. Violence and Oppression
Symbol Analysis
Our speaker hints at an underbelly to the world of dreams. When dreams are
ignored, our speaker argues that the consequences can be really bad (even
dangerous).
Line 4: Our speaker uses the image of a festering sore as he considers the
consequences of deferred dreams.

Line 6: The image of rotten meat is not a pleasant one, and it's one that reminds
our sense of smell of things from the past.

Line 9-10: Again, our speaker harnesses the power of imagery as he wonders
whether deferred dreams sag like a heavy load. This image makes us think of hard
work and exhaustion. It also makes us think of someone who has to carry such a
load all by himself/herself without anybody's help, something that doesn't seem fair.
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 Line
11: Our speaker uses metaphor as he concludes this poem, wondering
whether dreams "explode." The verb "explode" makes us think of bombs and
fireworks and things that can no longer contain themselves.
Themes:



Dreams, Hopes, and Plans
Transience
Choices
Figures of Speech
.......Hughes
relies on alliteration, similes, and anaphora in the poem. Alliteration is
the repetition of a consonant sound. Similes use like, as, or than to make
comparisons. Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning
successive groups of words. Following are examples these figures of speech.
Alliteration
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up (lines 1-2)
syrupy sweet (line 7)
Simile
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--- (lines 2-4)
Comparison of the dream to a raisin and a fester
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet? (lines 6-8)
Comparison of the dream to foods
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Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load. (lines 9-10)
Comparison of the dream to a heavy load.
Anaphora
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?
Meter, Structure, Rhyme, and Technique
.......Although
the meter of "Harlem" varies, the poem has a rhythmic, lyrical quality
achieved through alliteration, rhyme, repetition of certain words, and carefully
placed stressed syllables. The length of the first five lines also varies: Line 1 has
eight syllables, line 2 has four, line 3 has seven, line 4 has six, and line 5 has three.
This irregularity gives these lines a jagged edge, like the edge of a shard of broken
glass, enabling Hughes's message to lacerate its readers. However, the last three
lines of the poem each have five syllables, smoothing the poem's edge to the
keenness of a razor ready to cut cleanly. Although the poem does not imitate any
format used by previous poets, it does exhibit regularities, including the following:
In each line except Line 7, the last syllable is stressed.
Six of the seven sentences in the poem are questions.
All of the sentences except the first and the last contain similes using like.
Line 3 rhymes with line 5; line 6 rhymes with line 8; line 10 rhymes with line 11.
Lines 4, 7, and 11 begin with or.
Lines 3, 8, and 10 begin with like
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