Langston Hughes wrote “Harlem” in 1951 as part of a book-length sequence, Montage of a Dream Deferred. Inspired by blues and jazz music, Montage, which Hughes intended to be read as a single long poem, explores the lives and consciousness of the black community in Harlem, and the continuous experience of racial injustice within this community. “Harlem” considers the harm that is caused when the dream of racial equality is continuously delayed. Ultimately, the poem suggests, society will have to reckon with this dream, as the dreamers claim what is rightfully their own.

• Read the full text of “Harlem”

• “Harlem” Summary

• “Harlem” Themes

  • 

    The Cost of Social Injustice

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-11
  • 

    The Individual and the Community

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-11

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Harlem”

  • Line 1

    What happens to a dream deferred?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 2-5

          Does it dry ...
    ...       And then run?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 6-8

          Does it stink ...
    ... a syrupy sweet?

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 9-11

          Maybe it just ...
    ... does it explode?

    

    

    

    

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• “Harlem” Symbols

  • 

    The Dream

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “dream”

• “Harlem” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “Does it”
    • Line 3: “like”
    • Line 4: “Or”
    • Line 6: “Does it”
    • Line 7: “Or”
    • Line 8: “ like”
    • Line 10: “like”
    • Line 11: “Or does it”

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 9-10: “      Maybe it just sags /       like a heavy load.”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “dream,” “deferred”
    • Line 2: “Does,” “dry”
    • Line 3: “raisin,” “sun”
    • Line 4: “fester,” “sore”
    • Line 5: “run”
    • Line 6: “it,” “stink,” “like,” “rotten,” “meat”
    • Line 7: “Or,” “crust,” “sugar,” “over”
    • Line 8: “like,” “syrupy,” “sweet”
    • Line 9: “just,” “sags”
    • Line 10: “like,” “load”
    • Line 11: “Or ,” “does ,” “it ,” “explode”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “Does,” “it,” “dry,” “up”
    • Line 3: “like,” “a,” “raisin,” “in,” “the,” “sun”
    • Line 5: “run”
    • Line 6: “Does,” “it,” “stink,” “meat”
    • Line 8: “sweet”
    • Line 10: “load”
    • Line 11: “explode”

  • End-Stopped Line

    

    

    

    

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    Where end-stopped line appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “deferred?”
    • Line 3: “sun?”
    • Line 4: “sore—”
    • Line 5: “run?”
    • Line 6: “meat?”
    • Line 7: “over—”
    • Line 8: “sweet?”
    • Line 10: “load.”
    • Line 11: “explode?”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-8

  • Rhetorical Question

    

    

    

    

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    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-8
    • Lines 11-11

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-11

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3
    • Lines 4-5
    • Line 6
    • Lines 7-8
    • Lines 9-10
    • Line 11

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “up /       like”
    • Lines 9-10: “sags /       like ”

• “Harlem” 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.

  • Harlem
  • Deferred
  • Fester
  • Run
  • Load
  • Explode
  • (Location in poem: )

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Harlem”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Harlem” Speaker

• “Harlem” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Harlem”

• More “Harlem” Resources

  • External Resources

    • An Essay From the Poetry Foundation — Read more about "Harlem" in this essay by Scott Challener at the Poetry Foundation.

    • Letter from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Hughes — Read a letter from Martin Luther King, Kr. to Langston Hughes, which includes a reference to a performance of Lorraine Hansberry's play “A Raisin in the Sun."

    • "Harlem" Read Aloud by Langston Hughes — Listen to Langston Hughes read "Harlem."

    • Full Text of "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" — Read Langston Hughes’s 1926 essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain."

    • The Harlem Renaissance — Learn more about the Harlem Renaissance from the History Channel.

    • Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, Jr. — Read about how Langston Hughes influenced Martin Luther King, Jr., including the influence of "Harlem."

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes

    • As I Grew Older

    • Aunt Sue's Stories

    • Cross

    • Daybreak in Alabama

    • Democracy

    • Dreams

    • Dream Variations

    • Homecoming

    • I Look at the World

    • I, Too

    • Let America Be America Again

    • Mother to Son

    • Night Funeral in Harlem

    • The Ballad of the Landlord

    • Theme for English B

    • The Negro Speaks of Rivers

    • The Weary Blues

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