Poetry
POET SPOTLIGHT
Langston Hughes
Poet of the Harlem Renaissance
Presidents quote him. Young people
across the country study his writings.
And nearly half a century after his
death, his words still capture the
hearts and minds of his readers.
Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
is one of America’s greatest—and
most enduring—poets.
Read one of his most
famous poems below.
“Harlem:
A Dream Deferred”
by Langston Hughes
COPYRIGHT ©THE GRANGER COLLECTION, NEW YORK
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
“Deferred”
means
delayed.
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
TURN THE PAGE to read about the
man who wrote this amazing poem.

FROM THE COLLECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES. COPYRIGHT ©1994
BY THE ESTATE OF LANGSTON HUGHES. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF
ALFRED A. KNOPF, AN IMPRINT OF RANDOM HOUSE, INC.
SCHOLASTIC.COM/SCOPE • OCTOBER 25, 2010
17
A Poet in Pictures
 HARLEM RENAISSANCE In the 1920s and ’30s, many
African-Americans moved to Harlem, a neighborhood in New
York City. During this period, there was an outpouring of artistic
expression known as the Harlem Renaissance. Blues singers, jazz
musicians, writers, and painters all used their craft to express
what it was like to be black in America. Hughes was at the center
of it all. He became known as “The Poet Laureate of Harlem.”
“Hold fast to your dreams,
for without them life is a
broken-winged bird that
cannot fly.”
—from Langston Hughes’s
poem “Dreams”
 DEFERRED DREAMS Hughes grew
up long before the era of Martin Luther
King Jr. and the civil rights movement.
Racism kept African-Americans
from having the same rights and
opportunities as whites. Black
Americans were barred from “white”
schools, hospitals, libraries, and
public bathrooms. But Hughes had
hope. He often wrote about his
dreams for a better future.
His Lasting
Legacy
Langston Hughes died
in 1967, but the power
of his poetry has
continued to inspire
many generations
of Americans.
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SCHOLASTIC SCOPE • OCTOBER 25, 2010
Martin
Luther King
Jr.’s famous
“I Have a Dream”
speech (1963) is
often compared
with the poem
you read on
p. 17.
 PEN PALS
During the civil rights
movement, Langston
Hughes and Martin
Luther King Jr. wrote
letters to each other.
Hughes penned poems
about King, and King
quoted Hughes in his
speeches. He even
recited Hughes’s
poem “Let America
Be America Again”
in 1967.
Hughes
was voted
the “class
poet” of his
eighth
grade.
 DISCOVERED!
Hughes moved to
Washington, D.C., in
1924 and got a job at a
hotel (above). One day, a famous poet
named Vachel Lindsay arrived there to
eat dinner. Hughes slyly slipped him a
few poems. Lindsay was so impressed
that he helped Hughes publish his
first poetry collection.
The
comedian
Stephen Colbert
once recited
(and danced to)
“A Dream
Deferred”
on TV.
President
Barack
Obama quoted
from Hughes’s
poem “A Dream
Deferred” in
one of his
speeches.
 LITERARY LIFE
Hughes died in 1967.
He left behind dozens
of plays, short stories,
and, of course, poems.
CONTEST
Writing About Dreams
GET MORE
ACTIVITIES
ONLINE
Hughes often wrote about the importance
of dreams. According to his poem on
p. 17, what may happen to a dream
deferred? Why is it risky to postpone your dreams?
Write a paragraph explaining your
answer. Send it to SCOPE POET
CONTEST by December 1, 2010.
Ten winners will get a copy of
Laban Carrick Hill’s Harlem Stomp!
See p. 2 for details.
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