⬅️ Poetry ⬅️ Memorising Poems
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
About
- This short poem about dreams is one of the most influential poems of the 20th century.
- It would not be an exaggeration to say that every time the “American dream” is invoked, Hughes’s question is there, asking what that dream is, what conditions make it possible, and why for so many it seems little more than a trap, or an illusion, or a promise that no longer meaningfully obtains.
- originally appeared in 1951
- Dreams, like history, hurt. By implication, they demand care—and all the work that care entails.
Other poems
- Ballad of the Landlord
- Theme for English B