Dreams By Langston Hughes Essay

Analytical paper
“Dreams” is a short poem written by American poet Langston Hughes. The poet describes a sense of hopelessness in life, where there are only two options to choose from, thriving or suffering. Through the use of repetition, strands, and binaries the author writes about a seemingly pessimistic view of life that can dominate and lead down a path of failure if given power, or can motivate to triumph. The word “dreams” is repeated a total of four times throughout the poem indicating its importance to the author and the theme of the story, which is about firmly grasping on to the opportunities presented by life before they escape and therefore it becomes meaningless as stated by Hughes in the line (“For when dreams go life becomes a barren field”). Although the poem seems gloomy the repetition of the word “dreams” represents the importance of holding on to hope even when the odds are unfavorable. The most interesting binary opposition in this poem was life vs barren field; because they are two extremes. A barren field suggesting the obvious emptiness, also
A flightless bird is grounded restricted to only being able to walk; likewise, a person that does not pursue their dreams is bound to live a life of mediocracy not ever being to flourish. “Holding fast to dreams” translates to acting fast when an opportunity is presented, latent reactions or not having a strong desire for success will have dire consequences; overall this specific strand defines the entire poem as an optimistic way to perceive life, it is essentially “do or die”