What do you think this poem means?

Question

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?



-Langston Hughes

Answer 1

He is speaking of what happens when you put your dreams aside and don't act on them. Sometimes they just dry up and vanish. A dream deferred can hurt you, cause you pain until it runs like a sore and is wiped away. Sometimes a dream deferred is a constant companion like a stink that stays in the hairs of your nose no matter how many times you blow to get free of it. The last line means the dream finally gets blown to pieces if it isn't realized. Good poem..

Answer 2

Hi there!
When we discuss this poem in my class, the students first try to figure out what the word "deferred" means. If you realize the first line is about putting off your hopes and dreams for the future, then I think you can begin to see the metaphors that follow more clearly.

Brainstorming:
Dreams Not Realized:

Object in Poem: Symbolic to this emotion:
dried up raisin=
runny, pus-filled sore=
decaying meat=
crust on top of maple syrup=
carrying a heavy load=
explode=

Good luck with your assignment. I hope this outline helps you decipher the meaning!
: )
Marjorie

Answer 3

The poem is more about dreams that raisins. The raisin is a metaphor for a forgotten dream, the examples are for humor: the message is not to forget dreams in the first place.

ways dreams can die
dried up raisin= what was fueling the dream is gone
runny, pus-filled sore= failure at dream hurt too bad.
decaying meat= waited to long and dream rotted.
crust on top of maple syrup= crust over: the sore mentioned before healed up and it was enough to satisfy the dream
carrying a heavy load= it was just too much for you
explode= completely eviscerates. total change of mind.

Answer 4

this is a beautiful poem by a wonderful poet. to mean it means to work to turn your dreams into reality b/c dreams are meant to make us reach further and accomplish more. the negative connotation of the phrases Langston uses to ponder possible destinations for dreams deferred is indicative of this.

Answer 5

It Means that if you have a dream to be something, To go somewhere to be somebody, do not put it off but follow through. because you may lose the time and not get the opportunity to try again.

Answer 6

Ä°t is about the dreams of ours that can never come true. He is questioning what will happen to them...

Answer 7

it means something...