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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? 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 13 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 14 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 15 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 16 of 37 59 Embed More on Genius 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 17 of 37 A Look Back At President Obama’s Greatest Music Moments 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 18 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 19 of 37 Why Anger Over The National Anthem Is Nothing New In America 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 20 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 21 of 37 Hip-Hop’s Love Of ‘Game Of Thrones’ 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 22 of 37 Add a comment The Oracle 5 years ago I learned this poem as a child and surprisingly, although I have forgotten much – I remember every word and inflection from my teacher as he read it to the class. I have since purchased all of Hughes poems for my children, and pledge not to ever defer my dreams. 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 23 of 37 +8 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 24 of 37 Show More (40) 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 25 of 37 About “Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?")” 1 contributor One of the most famous poems penned by Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. Written in 1951, this poem was the inspiration for Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play A Raisin in the Sun. 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Verified Artists All Artists: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z # 2/16/21, 8:32 AM The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Frederick Douglass Spee... 1 of 3 http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/douglass.htm Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) was the best known and most influential African American leader of the 1800s. He was born a slave in Maryland but managed to escape to the North in 1838. He traveled to Massachusetts and settled in New Bedford, working as a laborer to support himself. In 1841, he attended a convention of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society and quickly came to the attention of its members, eventually becoming a leading figure in the New England antislavery movement. In 1845, Douglass published his autobiography, "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave." With the revelation that he was an escaped slave, Douglass became fearful of possible re-enslavement and fled to Great Britain and stayed there for two years, giving lectures in support of the antislavery movement in America. With the assistance of English Quakers, Douglass raised enough money to buy his own his freedom and in 1847 he returned to America as a free man. He settled in Rochester, New York, where he published The North Star, an abolitionist newspaper. He directed the local underground railroad which smuggled escaped slaves into Canada and also worked to end racial segregation in Rochester's public schools. In 1852, the leading citizens of Rochester asked Douglass to give a speech as part of their Fourth of July celebrations. Douglass accepted their invitation. In his speech, however, Douglass delivered a scathing attack on the hypocrisy of a nation celebrating freedom and independence with speeches, parades and platitudes, while, within its borders, nearly four million humans were being kept as slaves. Fellow citizens, pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? And am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us? Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions. Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude, that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that, the dumb might eloquently speak, and the "lame man leap as an hart." But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you 2/16/21, 8:27 AM The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Frederick Douglass Spee... 2 of 3 http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/douglass.htm in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak today? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you, that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation (Babylon) whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrecoverable ruin. Fellow citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions, whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are today rendered more intolerable by the jubilant shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs and to chime in with the popular theme would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow citizens, is "American Slavery." I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing here, identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this Fourth of July. Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity, which is outraged, in the name of liberty, which is fettered, in the name of the Constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery -- the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate - I will not excuse." I will use the severest language I can command, and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slave-holder, shall not confess to be right and just. But I fancy I hear some of my audience say it is just in this circumstance that you and your brother Abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more and denounce less, would you persuade more and rebuke less, your cause would be much more likely to succeed. But, I submit, where all is plain there is nothing to be argued. What point in the anti-slavery creed would you have me argue? On what branch of the subject do the people of this country need light? Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man? That point is conceded already. Nobody doubts it. The slave-holders themselves acknowledge it in the enactment of laws for their government. They acknowledge it when they punish disobedience on the part of the slave. There are seventytwo crimes in the State of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of these same crimes will subject a white man to like punishment. What is this but the acknowledgment that the slave is a moral, intellectual, and responsible being? The manhood of the slave is conceded. It is admitted in the fact that Southern statute books are covered with enactments, forbidding, under severe fines and penalties, the teaching of the slave to read and write. When you can point to any such laws in reference to the beasts of the field, then I may consent to argue the manhood of the slave. When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then I will argue with you that the slave is a man! For the present it is enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race. Is it not astonishing that, while we are plowing, planting, and reaping, using all kinds of mechanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, copper, silver, and gold; that while we are reading, writing, and ciphering, acting as clerks, merchants, and secretaries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators, and teachers; that we are engaged in all the enterprises common to other men -- digging gold in California, capturing the whale in the Pacific, feeding sheep and cattle on the hillside, living, moving, acting, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives, and children, and above all, confessing and worshipping the Christian God, and looking hopefully for life and immortality beyond the grave -- we are called upon to prove that we are men? Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? That he is the rightful owner of his own body? You have already declared it. Must I argue the wrongfulness of slavery? Is that a question for republicans? Is it to be settled by the rules of logic and argumentation, as a matter beset with great difficulty, involving a doubtful application of the principle of justice, hard to understand? How should I look today in the presence of Americans, dividing and subdividing a discourse, to show that men have a natural right to freedom, speaking of it relatively and positively, negatively and affirmatively? To do so would be to make myself ridiculous, and to offer an insult to your understanding. There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven who does not know that slavery is wrong for him. What! Am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters? Must I argue that a system thus marked with blood and stained with pollution is wrong? No - I will not. I have better employment for my time and strength than such arguments would imply. 2/16/21, 8:27 AM The History Place - Great Speeches Collection: Frederick Douglass Spee... 3 of 3 http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/douglass.htm What, then, remains to be argued? Is it that slavery is not divine; that God did not establish it; that our doctors of divinity are mistaken? There is blasphemy in the thought. That which is inhuman cannot be divine. Who can reason on such a proposition? They that can, may - I cannot. The time for such argument is past. At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be denounced. What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour. Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival. Frederick Douglass - July 4, 1852 The History Place - Great Speeches Collection [ The History Place Main Page | American Revolution | Abraham Lincoln | American Civil War | Child Labor in America 1908-1912 | U.S. in World War II in the Pacific | John F. Kennedy Photo History | Vietnam War | First World War | The Rise of Adolf Hitler | Triumph of Hitler | Defeat of Hitler | Hitler Youth | World War II in Europe | Holocaust Timeline | 20th Century Genocide | Irish Potato Famine | This Month in History | Books on Hitler's Germany | History Videos | Hollywood's Best History Movies ] Terms of use: Private home/school non-commercial, non-Internet re-usage only is allowed of any text, graphics, photos, audio clips, other electronic files or materials from The History Place. 2/16/21, 8:27 AM Firefox 1 of 3 https://www.thoughtco.com/sojourner-truth-quotes-3530178?print Home Sojourner Truth Quotes About Abolition and Women's Rights Sojourner Truth (~1797–1883) By Jone Johnson Lewis Updated May 25, 2019 Sojourner Truth was enslaved from birth and became a popular spokesperson for abolition, women's rights, and temperance. A history-maker from the start—she was the first Black woman to win a court case against a white man when she won custody of her son after running away—she became one of the era's best-known figures. Her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech is known in several variants, because Sojourner Truth herself did not write it down; all copies of the speech come from secondhand sources at best. It was delivered at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio on May 29, 1851, and was first published in the Anti-Slavery Bugle on June 21, 1851. Truth's public life and remarks contained many quotations that have endured throughout time. Selected Sojourner Truth Quotations "And ain't I a woman?" "There is a great stir about colored men getting their rights, but not a word about the colored women; and if colored men get their rights, and not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before. So I am for keeping the thing going while things are stirring; because if we wait till it is still, it will take a great while to get it going again." (Equal Rights Convention, New York, 1867) "It is the mind that makes the body." "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! 2/16/21, 8:23 AM Firefox 2 of 3 https://www.thoughtco.com/sojourner-truth-quotes-3530178?print And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them." "Truth burns up error." "Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him." "Religion without humanity is poor human stuff." Two Versions, One Speech Truth's most famous speech, "Ain't I A Woman," was passed down through history in a decidedly different version than the one she originally delivered. During the American Civil War, her remarks regained popularity and was republished in 1863 by Frances Dana Barker Gage. This version was "translated" into a stereotypical dialect of enslaved people from the South, whereas Truth herself was raised in New York and spoke Dutch as a first language. Gage also embellished Truth's original remarks, exaggerating claims (for instance, claiming that Truth had had thirteen children when the real Truth had five). Gage's version includes a framing device depicting a hostile crowd won over by Truth's almost miraculous speech. It also contrasts the "regular" English spoken by bystanders with the heavy dialect of Gage's version of Truth: Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best place!" And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunders, she asked "And a'n't I a woman? Look at me! Look at me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And a'n't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear de lash a well! And a'n't I a woman? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And a'n't I a woman? In contrast, the original transcription, written down by Marius Robinson (who attended the convention where Truth spoke), depicts Truth as speaking standard American English, without markers of an accent or dialect. The same passage reads: I want to say a few words about this matter. I am a woman's rights. I have as much muscle as any man, and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed, and can any man do more 2/16/21, 8:23 AM Firefox 3 of 3 https://www.thoughtco.com/sojourner-truth-quotes-3530178?print than that? I have heard much about the sexes being equal. I can carry as much as any man, and can eat as much too, if I can get it. I am as strong as any man that is now. As for intellect, all I can say is, if a woman have a pint, and a man a quart—why can't she have her little pint full? You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much,—for we can't take more than our pint'll hold. The poor men seems to be all in confusion, and don't know what to do. Why children, if you have woman's rights, give it to her and you will feel better. You will have your own rights, and they won't be so much trouble. I can't read, but I can hear. I have heard the Bible and have learned that Eve caused man to sin. Well, if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again. Sources History of Woman Suffrage, ed. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage, 2nd ed., Rochester, NY: 1889. Mabee, Carleton, and Susan Mabee Newhouse. Sojourner Truth: Slave, Prophet, Legend. NYU Press, 1995. Cite this Article 2/16/21, 8:23 AM Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou | Poetry Foundation 1 of 3 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48985/phenomenal-woman Phenomenal Woman BY MAYA AN GELOU Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. 2/16/21, 8:30 AM Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou | Poetry Foundation 2 of 3 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48985/phenomenal-woman Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can’t touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them, They say they still can’t see. I say, It’s in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Now you understand Just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing, It ought to make you proud. I say, It’s in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need for my care. ’Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman” from And Still I Rise. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House Inc., 1994) 2/16/21, 8:30 AM Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou | Poetry Foundation 3 of 3 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48985/phenomenal-woman CONTACT US NEWSLETTERS PRESS PRIVACY POLICY POLICIES TERMS OF USE POETRY MOBILE APP 61 West Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60654 Hours: Monday-Friday 11am - 4pm © 2021 Poetry Foundation 2/16/21, 8:30 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 1 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org Donate Poets Search more than 3,000 biographies of contemporary and classic poets. search Langston Hughes 1902–1967 read poems by langston hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was a young child, and his father moved to Mexico. He was raised by his grandmother until he was thirteen, when he moved to Lincoln, Illinois, to live with his mother and her husband, before the family eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in Lincoln that Hughes began writing poetry. After graduating from high school, he spent a year in Mexico followed by a year at Columbia University in New York City. During this time, he worked as an assistant cook, launderer, and busboy. He also travelled to Africa and Europe working as a seaman. In November 1924, he moved to Washington, D. C. Hughes's first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, (Knopf, 1926) was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. He finished his college education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania three years later. In 1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter (Knopf, 1930), won the Harmon gold medal for literature. Hughes, who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly known for his insightful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories, plays, and poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in his book-length poem Montage of a Dream Deferred (Holt, 1951). His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike other notable black poets of the period such as Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen, Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including their love of music, laughter, and language itself alongside their suffering. The critic Donald B. Gibson noted in the introduction to Modern Black Poets: A Collection of Critical Essays (Prentice Hall, 1973) that Hughes “differed from most of his predecessors among black poets… in that he addressed his poetry to the people, specifically to black people. During the twenties when most American poets were turning inward, writing obscure and esoteric poetry to an ever decreasing audience of readers, 2/16/21, 8:29 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 2 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org the ability simply to read... Until the time of his death, he spread his message humorously—though always seriously—to audiences throughout the country, having read his poetry to more people (possibly) than any other American poet.” In addition to leaving us a large body of poetic work, Hughes wrote eleven plays and countless works of prose, including the well-known “Simple” books: Simple Speaks His Mind (Simon & Schuster, 1950); Simple Stakes a Claim (Rinehart, 1957); Simple Takes a Wife (Simon & Schuster, 1953); and Simple's Uncle Sam (Hill and Wang, 1965). He edited the anthologies The Poetry of the Negro and The Book of Negro Folklore, wrote an acclaimed autobiography, The Big Sea (Knopf, 1940), and cowrote the play Mule Bone (HarperCollins, 1991) with Zora Neale Hurston. Langston Hughes died of complications from prostate cancer on May 22, 1967, in New York City. In his memory, his residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission, and East 127th Street has been renamed “Langston Hughes Place.” Selected Bibliography Poetry Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Alfred A. Knopf, 1994) The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times (Alfred A. Knopf, 1967) Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961) Montage of a Dream Deferred (Holt, 1951) One-Way Ticket (Alfred A. Knopf, 1949) Fields of Wonder (Alfred A. Knopf, 1947) Freedom's Plow (Musette Publishers, 1943) Shakespeare in Harlem (Alfred A. Knopf, 1942) The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (Knopf, 1932) Scottsboro Limited (The Golden Stair Press, 1932) Dear Lovely Death (Troutbeck Press, 1931) Fine Clothes to the Jew (Alfred A. Knopf, 1927) The Weary Blues (Alfred A. Knopf, 1926) Prose Letters from Langston (University of California Press, 2016) Selected Letters of Langston Hughes (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015) Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, 1925–1964 (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001) The Arna Bontemps-Langston Hughes Letters (Dodd, Mead, 1980) Good Morning, Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings by Langston Hughes (Hill, 1973) Simple's Uncle Sam (Hill and Wang, 1965) Something in Common and Other Stories (Hill and Wang, 1963) Tambourines to Glory (John Day, 1958) Simple Stakes a Claim (Rinehart, 1957) I Wonder as I Wander (Rinehart, 1956) Laughing to Keep From Crying (Holt, 1952) Simple Takes a Wife (Simon & Schuster, 1953) Simple Speaks His Mind (Simon & Schuster, 1950) 2/16/21, 8:29 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 3 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org Not Without Laughter (Knopf, 1930) Drama The Plays to 1942: Mulatto to The Sun Do Move (University of Missouri Press, 2000) The Political Plays of Langston Hughes (Southern Illinois University Press, 2000) Mule Bone (HarperCollins, 1991) Five Plays by Langston Hughes (Indiana University Press, 1963) Poetry in Translation Cuba Libre (Anderson & Ritchie, 1948) Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral (Indiana University Press, 1957) Translation Masters of the Dew (Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947) Texts YEAR TITLE 2019 The Ceaseless Rings of Walt Whitman Prev 1 Next Related Schools & Movements: Harlem Renaissance Jazz Poetry Read poems by this poet 2/16/21, 8:29 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 4 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org By This Poet 21 Dreams Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Langston Hughes 1994 The Weary Blues Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, I heard a Negro play. Down on Lenox Avenue the other night Langston Hughes 1994 Life is Fine I went down to the river, I set down on the bank. I tried to think but couldn't, So I jumped in and sank. Langston Hughes 1994 2/16/21, 8:29 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 5 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org Related Poets 2/16/21, 8:29 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 6 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org 2/16/21, 8:29 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 7 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org Newsletter Sign Up Academy of American Poets Newsletter Academy of American Poets Educator Newsletter Teach This Poem Poem-a-Day john@example.com submit Support Us Become a Member Donate Now Get Involved Make a Bequest Advertise with Us Poets Shop Follow Us poets.org Find Poems Find Poets Poetry Near You 2/16/21, 8:29 AM About Langston Hughes | Academy of American Poets 8 of 8 https://poets.org/poet/langston-hughes Poets.org Read Stanza Privacy Policy Press Center Advertise academy of american poets About Us Programs Prizes The Walt Whitman Award James Laughlin Award Ambroggio Prize Chancellors Staff national poetry month Poetry & the Creative Mind Dear Poet Project Poster 30 Ways to Celebrate Sponsorship american poets Books Noted Essays Advertise © Academy of American Poets, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038 poets.org 2/16/21, 8:29 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 1 of 37 GENIUS Sign Up Sign In Search lyrics & more Home Genius Live 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 2 of 37 | Featured Charts Videos Community | Shop | 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 3 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 4 of 37 Facebook Twitter 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 5 of 37 Instagram 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 6 of 37 Youtube 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 7 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 8 of 37 59 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 9 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 10 of 37 Harlem (”What happens to a dream deferred?”) Langston Hughes Album Montage of a Dream Deferred 1 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 11 of 37 352.9K 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 12 of 37 41 Harlem (”What happens to a dream deferred?”) Lyrics 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? 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 13 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 14 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 15 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 16 of 37 59 Embed More on Genius 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 17 of 37 A Look Back At President Obama’s Greatest Music Moments 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 18 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 19 of 37 Why Anger Over The National Anthem Is Nothing New In America 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 20 of 37 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 21 of 37 Hip-Hop’s Love Of ‘Game Of Thrones’ 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 22 of 37 Add a comment The Oracle 5 years ago I learned this poem as a child and surprisingly, although I have forgotten much – I remember every word and inflection from my teacher as he read it to the class. I have since purchased all of Hughes poems for my children, and pledge not to ever defer my dreams. 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 23 of 37 +8 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 24 of 37 Show More (40) 2/16/21, 8:32 AM Langston Hughes – Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") | Genius https://genius.com/Langston-hughes-harlem-what-happens-to-a-dream-d... 25 of 37 About “Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?")” 1 contributor One of the most famous poems penned by Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. Written in 1951, this poem was the inspiration for Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play A Raisin in the Sun. 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