Josh Thompson
ENGL 2604
T/R, 12:30
Paper #1, Revision
April 23, 2009
One Lump or Five?: The Frequency of the Simile in Sonnet 29 and “A Dream Deferred”
Figurative language is a useful tool for any writer, especially a poet, allowing one to say a
great deal in as few words as possible. Figurative language comes in many forms; one of the
most common is the simile. Many poets use similes at some point in their writing; however,
some poets use the simile more than others. The frequency of simile usage depends on the poet
and his or her poem. Dependent upon the message that the poet is trying to get across to his or
her reader, he or she may use similes sparsely or frequently. Both techniques have different
effects. Two examples of this are William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 and Langston Hughes’ “A
Dream Deferred.” Both poems use similes; however, Shakespeare uses similes sparingly, with
just one most critical to the sonnet, while Hughes relies on a series of similes to give repeated
comparisons and, through a variety of similes, to convey different emotions.
In the beginning of Sonnet 29, the speaker is disgraced with his luck and how he is seen
in “men’s eyes” (1). He is all alone in lamenting his “outcast state” (2). The speaker also says
that he “[troubles] deaf heaven with [his] bootless cries” (3). Here, the speaker’s true lowly
feelings come through. The speaker says that he troubles heaven with his cries. The verb
“trouble” implies that the speaker inconveniences heaven. Making the action “call to” instead of
“trouble” would give a less inconvenient connotation; however, the speaker’s troubling hints at
just how shameful and desperate he really is. The heaven that he troubles is deaf, and his cries
are luckless, giving him a vulnerability—no one is around to hear his feeble cries.
Thompson 2
In the next four lines, the speaker acknowledges his envy of those “rich in hope” (5) and
“with friends possess’d” (6). With his introspection, the speaker curses his fate and realizes that
others have more than he. The speaker desires to be wealthy like others; however, he does not
desire monetary wealth. He desires emotional wealth like those “more rich in hope” than he (5).
The speaker is so engulfed in his self-pity that the things that “[he] most [enjoys content him the]
least” (8). However, as things seem to be at their worst, the speaker—by chance—thinks of his
love, and his mood and outlook on life change.
The speaker goes from feeling outcast to comparing himself to a bird. He says that his
state is “like to the lark at break of day arising/ [f]rom sullen earth” (11-12). He realizes that if it
was not for his love, he would probably have never had gotten out of his despair; he
acknowledges this in line 13: “For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings” (13).
The entire sonnet rests on a simile, the poem’s pivot point. When Shakespeare’s speaker
says in line 11, “Like to the lark at break of day arising,” the reader realizes the poem’s meaning:
The speaker’s love is the force that pulls him out of his life’s low point, taking him from an
envious pessimist, seeing nothing to live for in the world, to a hopeful optimist who finds a
subtle yet profound promise that life will get better.
Generally, when Shakespeare uses a simile, he is trying to show an important connection
that was not present earlier in the poem. Before the pivot point, the speaker is lamenting his
shortcomings; the octave is filled with despair. The pivot point and its respective quatrain show
the speaker’s changed outlook and are infused with hope. Thinking about his love makes him
feel like the bird taking flight at the break of dawn. With the entire poem hinging on this simile,
the lark’s flight represents the speaker’s journey out of desperation and lamentation into
confidence and hope. The speaker who once cried to a “deaf heaven” (3) now, like a lark, “sings
Thompson 3
hymns at heaven’s gate” (12). In addition, the speaker feels nothing other than sorrow and envy
early in the poem; however, he can associate his love with sweetness in the concluding couplet.
This shows the power of the pivot point and respective simile. In his Sonnet 29, Shakespeare
craftily uses one simple simile to change his poem’s entire course.
Just as Shakespeare implements a sparing use of the simile, with only one critical to his
sonnet, Langston Hughes uses another extreme. In his “A Dream Deferred,” Hughes uses many
similes. He puts many similes into few lines, writing five similes within eleven lines. Hughes
does not just pack his poem with empty similes; each simile in “A Dream Deferred” offers a new
point and adds to the poem’s overall message, displaying a different facet of racism.
Hughes opens with “What happens to a dream deferred?” (1). The dream referred to is
the “American dream” that everyone should have equal rights and opportunities. With its antiracial undertones and suggested repressed dream, the poem speaks out against racism. The poem
accomplishes it through a series of five similes.
Hughes presents his first simile in lines 2 and 3: “Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the
sun?” To understand this simile, the raisin must be rehydrated. Grapes, before they are dried
into raisins, are plump and juicy and can be made into wine. In Biblical times, wine was a
communal beverage, symbolizing a common bond. From then on, grapes and especially wine
have become symbols for community and brotherhood. If the grape represents community, then
a raisin symbolizes a missed opportunity. This missed opportunity of brotherhood among races
in America is slowly drying even further past the point of being a raisin, suggesting that the
chance for community between blacks and whites is slowly fading.
Hughes makes an abrupt shift from an edible raisin to a pus-leaking sore with his next
simile. He compares racism to a festering sore that is slowly leaking pus. Shifting from
Thompson 4
something delectable to something disgusting shows the reader racism’s horrible nature. In
addition, the sore’s pussy quality represents racism’s infections quality. When the pus from a
sore is transferred to another part of the body or another human being, the infection spreads.
This is similar to a racist person causing another person to be racist, as seen with racist parents
and their children.
Hughes continues with his disgusting comparisons in his next simile: “Does it stink like
rotting meat?” (6). This simile hints at how slaves were treated. In the South, especially during
slavery, most slave masters saw their slaves as nothing more than a piece of meat—after all, all
they had that racists valued were their bodies and their labor. This same thought carried over
history, surpassing the Emancipation Proclamation and Constitutional Amendments XII, XIV,
and XV. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, Southern schools were segregated even after the
Supreme Court ordered desegregation in 1954. Few blacks had choice in schools. Therefore,
without a proper education, blacks were, once again, generally valued only for their bodies and
their labor. Hughes uses the “rotting meat” to subtly allude to this treatment of blacks and
sarcastically hint at white attitudes towards blacks during the 1950’s South (6).
Immediately following the image of rotting meat comes a “syrupy sweet” (8). The
speaker asks if the deferred dream “[crusts] and [sugars] over—/ like a syrupy sweet” (7-8).
This simile is ambiguous, offering more than one meaning. One meaning comes from the
crusting over of the syrup. The sugary crust represents the translucent and brittle barrier between
people of different races that is created by racism. This barrier is just translucent enough to
obscure one’s understanding of others. A racist person only sees skin color and does not look
past it to the other person’s character. The barrier is also brittle enough to break easily. Racism
can be shattered by the simple act of seeing a person as defined by their character and not their
Thompson 5
skin color. Another meaning is derived from the sugaring over of the syrup. All across the
country over many years, society has been “sugarcoating” racism to make it easier to cope with.
This type of racism is sometimes referred to as “sweet racism” or “polite racism.” Either way,
sugarcoating racism’s harsh realities only makes them somewhat tolerable; it solves nothing and,
if anything, might worsen problems.
The fifth and final simile occurs in lines 9 and 10: “Maybe it just sags/ like a heavy
load.” This comparison, too, alludes to slavery and the heavy labor slaves were forced to do.
This simile can also symbolize the emotional weight associated with racism. Whether the load is
physical or emotional, the simile shows the burden and hindrance that is racism.
Just as the reader is beginning to understand the meaning behind Hughes’ similes, he
ends the poem with an ominous question: “Or does it explode?” This question does not contain
a simile. Hughes shocks the reader: For the previous nine lines, the reader has read a chain of
similes; reading the question catches his or her attention, alerting him or her to its seriousness
and threat. The question contains elements of foreboding violence. It is threatening, reminding
society of a possible outbreak between blacks and whites. The question provides a sudden
ending to the poem, and it is also in italics, both of which emphasize racism’s threat.
The many similes in “A Dream Deferred” are written and placed well. By shifting the
reader’s focus from one sense to another, Hughes paints a picture of racism with objects and
sensations to which anyone can relate. Each simile layers into the overall message, building
upon its predecessor and leading up to the foreboding threat concluding the poem.
Literature can have profound meanings. Through using figurative language, an author,
especially a poet, can give his or her literary work a resounding message. Poets strive to say a
great amount in as few words as possible. One way of accomplishing this is by using the simile.
Thompson 6
A poet can choose to use simile sparingly, moderately, or extensively. Each use provides a
different emphasis, but the extremes—sparse simile and frequent simile—impact a poem greatly.
Shakespeare hinges his entire Sonnet 29 on a simple simile. The uplifting comparison resonates
throughout the poem, showing that a small simile can pack a large amount of emphasis. In
contrast, Hughes relies on a chain of similes. The similes paint a picture of racism for the reader,
layering into each other and building up to an explosive conclusion. “A Dream Deferred” shows
that many similes can concentrate into one message. Both Sonnet 29 and “A Dream Deferred”
contrast the extreme uses of simile, serving as examples to its power and flexible frequency.
Works Cited
Canter, Bob. ENGL 2604 Course Packet. Virginia Tech: Spring 2009.
Thompson 7