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“Harlem” 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? (Meyer, 2012, p. 576).

the imagery, figures of speech, symbolism, language/word choice, tone, themes, sound, and my final thoughts on each poem. ......."Harlem" is a lyric poem with irregular rhyme and an irregular metrical pattern that sums up the white oppression of blacks in America. It first appeared in 1951 in a collection of Hughes's poetry, Montage of a Dream Deferred (Cummings, 2007).

Theme
Frustration (Cummings, 2007).

.......In 1951—the year of the poem's publication—frustration characterized the mood of American blacks. The Civil War in the previous century had liberated them from slavery, and federal laws had granted them the right to vote, the right to own property, and so on. However, continuing prejudice against blacks, as well as laws passed since the Civil War, relegated them to second-class citizenship (Cummings, 2007). Consequently, blacks had to attend poorly equipped segregated schools and settle for menial jobs as porters, ditch-diggers, servants, shoeshine boys, and so on. In many states, blacks could not use the same public facilities as whites, including restrooms, restaurants, theaters, and parks. Access to other facilities, such as buses, required them to take a back seat, literally, to whites. By the mid-Twentieth Century, their frustration with inferior status became a powder keg, and the fuse was burning. Hughes well understood what the future held, as he indicates in the last line of the poem (Cummings, 2007).

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 (Cummings, 2007). 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.
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 (Cummings, 2007).

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

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? Graphic Sights and Smells (Cummings, 2007).
.......The language of "Harlem" is frank, down-to-earth. It does not euphemize. The narrator asks whether a dream becomes a dried-up fruit, a running sore, rotten meat, or a sweet that crusts and sugars over. He also asks whether the dream sags or explodes. All of these tropes enable to reader to see and smell the frustration of American blacks (Cummings, 2007).

Maltreatment of Blacks Since the Civil War

.......The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution—approved in the post-Civil War era—granted black Americans basic rights as American citizens, as did the Civil Rights Act of 1875. However, court and legislative decisions later emasculated the legal protection of blacks. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1896 (Plessy v. Ferguson) that it was legal to provide "separate but equal" accommodations for passengers of Louisiana's railroads. This ruling set a precedent that led to segregated schools, restaurants, parks, libraries, and so on.
.......Meanwhile, hate groups inflicted inhuman treatment on innocent blacks, including brutal beatings. Lynching of innocent blacks were not uncommon. Many so-called "enlightened" or "liberal-minded" Americans looked the other way, including law-enforcement officers, clergymen, politicians, and ordinary Americans. By the mid-20th Century, black frustration with white oppression formed itself into a potent blasting powder (Cummings, 2007).

1...deferred: Postponed, put off.
2...raisin: A dried, sweet grape. The grape is dried by the sun or by a dehydrator.
3...fester: develop pus; ulcerate.

1. Imagery:
What visual images can you identify in both poems?
Comment on the details you notice about objects, places, people, colors, textures and so forth.
Which of your other senses are stimulated by the poets’ descriptions?
2. Figures of Speech
List the specific metaphors, similes, puns and other figures of speech each poet uses and how they contribute to the poem’s overall meaning. (Remember, figurative language is not literal but rather suggestive of something else. For example, the metaphor, “Jack is a pig,” is not a reference to an actual animal with hooves but rather someone named Jack who has pig-like qualities or mannerisms.)
3. Symbolism
4. Identify the symbols you notice in each poem. What abstract concepts (e.g., love, death, truth) might the concrete objects (e.g., persons, places, things) suggest?
5. Language and Word Choice
Every word in a poem has been included (or left out) after much deliberation, as poets choose their words very carefully. Remark on the following in each poem: Does the poet use informal or formal language? Does he or she write in an older dialect or contemporary English? Provide examples.
6. Tone What tone does each poet take (e.g., sad, humorous, sarcastic, loving, etc.) toward his or her subject matter?
7. Themes
What are the main messages of both poems? Give reasons for your answers.
Sound
Read both poems out loud. What do you notice about their rhythms, rhyme schemes and musicality?
How does listening to the sound of a poem differ from merely reading it as words on a page?
8. Final Thoughts
Poetry can enlighten and/or evoke deep emotion in readers. Express the impact, each of the two poems you have analyzed, has had on you.
What insights did you gain about life or human nature, and what feelings did each piece stir in you?
Has your view of poetry changed in any way since reading and analyzing these poems? Explain your answer.