Second, Hughes uses two metaphors to explain what occurs when dreams are lost. A metaphor is a comparison of two unconnected items that suggests they are comparable in some way. In this case, the loss of dreams is compared to the death of those loved ones.
Langston Hughes constructs a major metaphor surrounding a dream in the poem "Harlem" by linking a dream to many images of death and devastation in order to inquire what happens to a "dream postponed," or a desire that has been delayed in fulfillment. The poet begins by comparing the death of a loved one with the destruction of a dream:
Then came the day when my brother died,/not quickly like a shot but piece by piece. / We watched him grow weaker and weaker until finally he could no longer stand up under his own weight. /. / I looked at my mother and saw tears in her eyes as she said, "I'm sorry you had to see that."/ Then I realized something had gone wrong with our plans; our dream was postponed.
The metaphor of a dream as a desire that has not been fulfilled immediately becomes important later in the poem when the speaker asks, "What does a dream delayed mean?" (Hughes 1998, p. 7). He answers his own question by saying that it means "a desire that is put off until some future time."
This explanation makes sense because dreams are desires that people have for themselves or others. Sometimes these desires are expressed directly through words or actions, but more often they are only implied through these forms of communication.
The topic of Langston Hughes' "Dreams" is not giving up on what you want out of life. Hughes advises people to "cling to dreams" and not let them go, since if they do, their lives would be worthless and unfulfilled. He demonstrates this idea through the use of figures of speech. For example, he uses imagery when he says that we should "grasp stars with both hands". This means that we should try our best to achieve all of our goals in life.
Langston Hughes was a American author, poet, and playwright. His works include volumes of poetry, novels, and essays. He has been called the "father of modern-day black literature" for his significant contribution to the development of African-American literature.
Hughes was born into a family who were musicians and singers. He was raised by his mother after his father died when he was only six years old. She had another husband and three other children besides Langston. Because of this, he grew up without a father figure but instead had many female mentors who helped him learn how to write and speak properly.
He started writing poems at an early age and never stopped until he died at age 46 because of tuberculosis. However, he did publish several books before he died including The Ways of White Folks and Other Essays (1938), a collection of autobiographical essays; and Not Without Laughter (1939), a volume of humor poems.
Hughes compares postponed dreams to rotting meat, wondering whether dreams will stink like rotten flesh if they are stored away. "Heavy weight" is the fifth metaphor. "Perhaps it merely sags like a big burden." Hughes likened certain dreams to heavy burdens. A burden is something you have to carry, and if it is heavy, it causes problems.
Here's another example of how metaphors work: Dreams are not just stories that come true. They also tell us things about ourselves and our world. So, dreams can be thought of as messages from our deeper self or soul.
In this case, the dreamer was asking himself if his dream was worth all that money. He knew that money could never buy him happiness, but he wanted more out of life. So, he was interested in knowing what would happen if he achieved his goal.
The answer is found in the next scene, in which the dreamer wakes up dead. This tells us that if he had paid too much for his dream, then it wasn't really meant to be after all.
Metaphors are important tools for understanding ideas that might otherwise be difficult to express. Without them, many of the insights we need to have would remain locked inside our heads without ever being put into words.
What Happens To A Dream Delayed? Is one of several poems written by Hughes that deal with the life of African Americans in the United States. The brief poem raises issues concerning a person's desires and hopes, as well as the consequences that may result if such goals and wishes do not come true. "What happens to a dream delayed?" has been interpreted as referring to a man who dreams of a beautiful woman but who does not pursue her because of other obligations or concerns for his own happiness.
Hughes was born on August 25, 1845, in Columbia, South Carolina. He was the second child of Margaret (née McNeil) and William Alexander Hughes. His father was an attorney who became wealthy practicing law. His mother was from a family of farmers. Hughes had two siblings: a brother named Charles Hamilton Hughes who was three years his senior and a sister named Laura Elizabeth Hughes who was five years his junior.
He received some education from private tutors before going to live with his aunt and uncle in Boston, Massachusetts. Here he met many black activists and intellectuals, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Henry James, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. This experience greatly influenced him and made him aware of the problems that blacks faced in America at that time. After seven years in Boston, he moved to New York City where he worked as a printer's devil for a newspaper called the New-York Tribune.
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