Poem Response

            Studying poetry is hard. Trying to decipher what the poet is trying to say is challenging for sure, but I might be getting a little better at that. Picking the poem apart for certain techniques and literary devices is the easy part, decoding the language and finding what the author’s true intentions are is a different story. Two poems, “Harlem” by Langston Hughes and the lyrics to “Starry Starry Night” by Don McLean are very contrasting texts but they both touch on the power of your ultimate dream.

            A dream deferred, sad if you think about it. How many people do we all know living with a dream deferred, probably most. Sometimes, some things are more important than dreams. I actually can’t even believe I just said that, but I guess feeding a family can be more important than some dreams. Love might lead to a dream deferred, I could see that happening. In this poem, Langston Hughes uses many literary devices to catch our attention and although the poem is short, it drives the point home directly. Dream Deferred itself is alliteration, there are rhyming words and similes. There are lines in this poem that make your stomach turn and I found myself cringing at the thought of the smell of rotten meat and festering sores. Both of those images are awful to think about, the author must truly be disgusted at all the dreams he has seen deferred in a place like Harlem.

            Starry Starry Night is also about dreams but in a different way. Don McLean is telling us about a man who lived for his dream so intensely that it drove him mad. He has followed his dream down the road to obsession and from his room in an asylum, he paints. Nothing got in the way of Vincent Van Gogh’s dream of art, not family or love. He was in love with is work, a love never retuned but I must admit I think of him as courageous for standing by his true love. Don Mclean gives us the illusion that this a light and airy text with rhyming words like hills and daffodils. Palettes of blue and grey and summers day, these images are peaceful and the whole poem feels peaceful to me even though he is locked away and ultimately dies.