Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dream Deferred - Simile

"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin?" - Langston Hughes
It's raisin man!


This poem is bursting with similes. There are 6 similes in an 11 line poem - that's impressive. I think the main point the speaker is trying to get across is that dreams are on the verge of being indescribable. The speaker tries their best to put a dream into words, but all the have is questions. I think the speaker is talking about past experiences, or dreams, that he/she had. Maybe a dream that faded away, or a bitter dream that was never reached, were the meaning behind the harsh comparisons. When the speaker says "does it explode?", I think there could very well be two meanings behind that. On one hand, it could be positive; the dream became a reality. On the other hand, it could very well be negative; the dream absorbed the speaker's entire life to a point where it was overwhelming. I guess that's why the first question is "what happens to a dream deferred?", because no one truly knows.

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