-Dream Deferred-

• Explanation of the poem "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes:

  • The poem poses a rhetorical question: "What happens to a dream deferred?"
  • It uses similes to describe the consequences of a delayed dream:
  • "Like a raisin in the sun": the dream dries up like a raisin in the sun.
  • "Fester like a sore": the dream becomes spoiled, infected, and no longer relevant.
  • "Stink like rotten meat": the dream is spoiled, deferred, but cannot be forgotten.
  • "Crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet": the dream is remembered as something sweet and enjoyable
• The poem explores the different outcomes of delaying a dream, such as it becoming a burden like a heavy load or even exploding
• Poem of Dream deferred

  
• Annotation for lines 1 to 8

  
• Annotation for lines 9 -11 and title

  
• For line 1 what does deferred mean?

  
• Meaning of ' fester like a sore--'


  Dream becomes spoilt, infected no longer relevant yet the speaker cannot forget it.
• Meaning of 'stink like rotten meat'


  Dream is spoilt but cannot be forgotten and stays around like stench of rotten meat
• Meaning of 'crust and sugar over--like a syrupy sweet'

  The dream is remembered as something sweet.
• Meaning of 'sags like a heavy load'


  Dream is delayed , dreamer still feels burden which sags like a heavy load.
• 'Explode' meaning


  The dream is totally forgotten and the burden is nonexistent.