Harlem (”What happens to a dream deferred?”)
Langston Hughes * Track #1 On Montage of a Dream Deferred
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Harlem ("What happens to a dream deferred?") by Langston Hughes
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Langston HughesAbout
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.
Harlem (”What happens to a dream deferred?”) Annotated
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?