Student Presentation #7: Jennifer W. on Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, novelist, playwright and activist. He is known best for his poetry, and is considered one of the inventors and innovators of jazz poetry. Hughes was a major player in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and many of his poems and novels focus on the plight of African-Americans.

Hughes’ poems “The Dream Keeper” and “Dreams” are not poems that address issues related to African-American experiences alone; instead they have more universal messages. “The Dream Keeper” asserts the idea that dreams are fragile and need protection.

That I may wrap them

In a blue cloud-cloth

Away from the too-rough fingers

Of the world.”

Our dreams, Hughes suggests in this poem, must be protected from harsh outside factors, which can diminish them or even make them disappear completely. Hughes views this as a terrible thing. Another of his poems, “Dreams,” focuses on the idea that without dreams life is tedious and, in the end, not worthwhile.

“For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly”

Our dreams keep us going and they make life worth living. The poem continues:

“For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow,”

Without our dreams, Hughes reminds us, life is uninteresting and dull. These two poems highlight the importance of our dreams and therefore the need to protect them from anything that can damage or destroy them.