Harlem

    Harlem captures the essence of dreams and progress in just a few great short lines.  This poem was written when the future state and equality of African Americans was unknown.  Its cool that the poem is called harlem because that is the only line that directly talks about African Americans.  The rest of the poem is about the African American movement, but is talking about something much bigger.  This much broader idea is that if you don't follow through on your dreams, they will disappear.

    When Hughes wrote most of his poems, African Americans were being oppressed throughout the United States.  However, as this poem shows, there was prospect and hope for a better life.  The first line, "What happens to a dream deferred?" shows that black people had dreams but were not acting on it.  The rest of the poem just describes different ways that the dream is destroyed.  This describes the political scene in terms of race at the time.

     It was an interesting choice to name the poem Harlem.  I think he named it Harlem to show that he was talking about Harlem.  This poem is about Harlem because Harlem was the cultural center for Black people in America.  At that point in history, the vast majority of Black people's dreams were drying up and not being fulfilled.  However, Hughes also shows the excitement and tension and want at that time in the Black community.  This is shown by the last line of the poem, "Or does it explode?"  This shows how full of energy and frustrated the community was in a beautiful way.

     The last word of the poem somehow seems to be automatically yelled.  It is almost as if there's a stage direction there.  I think this is because the rest of the poem and the start of the line, "Or does it..." builds up to it.  And the last word, "Explode," seems to be the loudest by far in the poem.  I think Hughes does this on purpose.  Either way, it creates a very rhythmic reading of the poem.

     All in all, Harlem is a great and simple poem.  Somehow, without actually mentioning race, it describes the issues as well as any poem of the time.  It is has great rhythm and is quite moving.   It describes the mood and frustrations of African Americans.  However, it's also relatable to everyone.  It is one of my favorite poems.