Dreams

Dreams

                           – Langstone Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For it dreams die

Life is a broken- winged bird

They cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Bengali Translation:

স্বপ্নকে আটকাও
তাকে দিও না মরতে।
জীবন ডানা-ভাঙ্গা পাখি
জানে না সে তো উড়তে।
স্বপ্নকে আটকাও,
যখন স্বপ্ন হবে গত
জীবনটা নিষ্ফলা;
জমানো বরফের মতো।

Answer the following questions. 1×5=5

a) What is the meaning of the poem Dreams by Langston Hughes?

b) What does hold fast to dreams mean?

c) What are the two metaphors in Dreams by Langston Hughes?

d) Why did Langston Hughes write Dreams?

e) What is the central theme of the poem?

Answer:

a) The meaning of the poem Dreams by Langston Hughes is simple: don’t give up on your big dreams and goals, or life will be broken, motionless, and meaningless.

b)”Hold fast to dreams” means keep pursuing your bigger goals and wishes for life; don’t give up on them, or life will be meaningless and purposeless.

c) The two metaphors in Dreams by Langston Hughes are “when dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly” and “when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow.”

d) Langston Hughes wrote Dreams to encourage his main audience – working-class black Americans in the 1920s – to hold onto their dreams of a better life and equality. Without those dreams, according to the poem, life is devoid of meaning and purpose.

e) The theme of the poem is the importance of having dreams and how miserable lives without dreams become. In the poem the poet shows the contrast between a life with dreams and a life without dreams. The poem inspires the readers to go on dreaming and never to give up because without dreams life is a waste. So one has to have dreams and to make the dreams come true.

Summary:

In “Dreams,” Langston Hughes uses metaphors and imagery to underscore the importance of holding onto dreams. The tone is earnest and contemplative, urging readers to value their aspirations. Phrases like “life is a broken-winged bird” and “barren field” vividly illustrate the bleakness of a life without dreams.

Q: Is Langston Hughes’ poem “Dream” part of a collection or series?

Answer:  The poem “Dreams” comes from Hughes collection “The Weary Blues ,” which describes many aspects of inequality and life in a segregated America. He discusses music, pride, and suffering throughout the collection, making it resonate deeply with the ideas of African-American suffering and pain.