Langston Hughes Masterpieces I, Too and A Dream Deferred - Essay Example

The lines below show a steadfast refusal to accept the racial segregation. “Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed - I, too, am America.” The poet proudly and clearly declares, he too is an American and is not going to give up at any cost. “A deferred dream” was written long after the Harlem Renaissance. All the hopes and dreams expressed during that period hadn’t materialized even after two decades of waiting. The racial differences prevailed even during the 1950’s.

The poem is an expression of the desperation of when the situation will finally change if at all. The first and last lines of the poem are extremely powerful. “What happens to a dream deferred?” “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?” The poet laments with untold sadness when he asks whether his dreams will drop dead with him pressing his soul with a great burden. He immediately expresses his anger asking whether the dreams will explode causing another revolution. In short he urges his fellow brothers to start leading their dreams instead of waiting for them to happen at the mercy of someone else.

Scanty Support from Non Black Poets The poet as a young representative of the Harlem renaissance hopes to change the world through his pen. Many of his African American colleagues had the same dream. But, not everybody was supportive. The modernist poets like Fearing and Davidman saw the Harlam Renaissance as a way of the black community to achieve dominance. Though they agreed racial discrimination should be kept in check, their views about the struggling of the black people were generally pessimistic (Smethurst, 1999).

None of their works expressed the warm confidence and positive attitude as shown in these lines of “I, Too”. “But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes” In fact only a very few like Langston had this cheery spirit in the Harlem Renaissance group. But, sadly even his great warrior spirit gets wounded by time. Poets like Sterling Brown and Don West were also popular folk poets. But their poems usually kept “folk” out of the mass culture, catering the artistic side of educated people rather than the struggling blacks.

The modern digital generation might find it hard to believe such inequalities were meted out to their fellow brothers with President Obama ruling the country now. But, the situation was much different a century before. The Repressed Anger The poem “A Deferred Dream” is like a continuation of the first poem “I, Too”. They record the changes expected with time and the disappointment of it not materializing as fast as expected. The author hopes he would be able to dine equally with the Whites in the future definitely.

He cherishes the dream with his heart and soul. Twenty five years later, he is tired of still cherishing the same dream. He is tired to see his fellow brother being exploited still in terms of education, employment and several other fields. He watches them shed their roots and try to imitate the White people blindly. The poet is deeply hurt by this. On the other hand he also notices people with the true ‘black” spirit too who give him hope. He believes these people will fight for their rights better than the educated blacks.

He warns the society about how the suppressed feelings of the black peop