"Dreams" is an early poem by American poet Langston Hughes, one of the leading figures of the 1920s arts and literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Originally published in the magazine The World Tomorrow in 1923, it explores themes that would echo throughout Hughes's work: the sustaining power of dreams (especially in the face of difficult realities) and the problems that arise when dreams are thwarted or abandoned. Its two short stanzas deliver an urgent warning never to let dreams die.
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The Full Text of “Dreams”
1Hold fast to dreams
2For if dreams die
3Life is a broken-winged bird
4That cannot fly.
5Hold fast to dreams
6For when dreams go
7Life is a barren field
8Frozen with snow.
The Full Text of “Dreams”
1Hold fast to dreams
2For if dreams die
3Life is a broken-winged bird
4That cannot fly.
5Hold fast to dreams
6For when dreams go
7Life is a barren field
8Frozen with snow.
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“Dreams” Summary
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“Dreams” Themes
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The Necessity of Dreams
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Dreams”
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Lines 1-2
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die -
Lines 3-4
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly. -
Lines 5-6
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go -
Lines 7-8
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
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“Dreams” Symbols
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The Broken-Winged Bird
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The Frozen Field
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“Dreams” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Metaphor
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Repetition
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Enjambment
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“Dreams” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Fast
- Broken-winged
- Barren
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Dreams”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Dreams” Speaker
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“Dreams” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Dreams”
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More “Dreams” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Out Loud — Watch Dr. Christopher Emdin of Columbia University read "Dreams" aloud and explain what the poem means to him as an educator.
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"Dream Variations" at the Academy of American Poets — Read another famous Hughes poem about dreams, one that engages with racial divisions and describes the speaker's own liberating dream.
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Jazz Poetry — A brief guide to the innovative style that Hughes and other Harlem Renaissance writers developed in their work.
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"How Langston Hughes’s Dreams Inspired MLK’s" — Read about connections between Langston Hughes's poetry and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s oratory, including his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech.
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The Harlem Renaissance — Learn more about the cultural and artistic movement Hughes helped pioneer.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes
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