Langston Hughes Poetry

Words: 671
Pages: 3

Poetry “is the human soul entire, squeezed like a lemon or a lime, drop by drop, into atomic words.” -Langston Hughes

Poetry is a type of creative writing in which feelings and experiences are intensified through the usage of metaphors, similes and many other literary devices. Poetry is unique and gives the poet a distinct style of writing and rhythm throughout their work. I will be analyzing the poet Langston Hughes, and some of his work. From the pieces that I read, “I Dream A World,” “Harlem,” and “Dreams” I discovered that his style of poetry is talking about issues of past struggles, and dreaming of peace, happiness and a better world.
First, one of Langston Hughes’ many poems, called “I Dream A World” expresses his style of poetry because
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However, this dream was postponed for too long, so they stopped dreaming for this to happen. In “Harlem,” stanza 1, lines 1 and 2 state, “Does it dry up/ Like a raisin in the sun?” This means that if you don’t believe in your dreams for too long your dream can die or dry up like a raisin. In this sense, the grape would be the dream in the beginning, well taken care of and thriving. But then if your dream doesn’t become true for a while, then you stop believing in this dream and eventually it dies, or shrivels up like the grape and becomes a raisin. Also in “Harlem,” stanza 3, lines 1 and 2 say, “Maybe it just sags/ Like a heavy load.” This shows that the dream can also become more of a burden than an actual dream, if it is not achieved for a long period of time, or you can start to lose hope on your dreams. The overall message of this poem is that if you stop believing in your dreams, or if they are put off for too long you can start losing hope or you can even abandon your dream entirely.
Finally, Langston Hughes’ “Dreams” conveys his style because it shows how he talks about dreaming, but if you lose hope, like in “Harlem,” then life can become boring. In “Dreams,” stanza 1, lines 2-4 state, “For if dreams die, / Life is a broken-winged bird/ That cannot fly.” This shows that if your dreams