"New" Poems by Langston Hughes

One of the poems that left a deep impression on me way back in high school was Langston Hughes’s “A Dream Deferred” (that’s how I’ve always remembered its title, but I’m seeing it listed online as both “A Dream Deferred” and “Harlem”–can anyone help me understand that?).

So I was very interested to discover, in the latest issue of Poetry magazine (and thankfully published online), that a rare books cataloger at Yale University recently unearthed three Hughes poems, all of which are seeing their first known publication now. Read Arnold Rampersad’s explanatory article, which contains links to all three poems, too.

2 thoughts on “"New" Poems by Langston Hughes

  1. Orville says:

    I have a book called the collection of Langston Hughes there are actually two poems titled “Harlem”.
    The most famous poem “Harlem” is the famous line about ” what happens to a dream deferred”. I think the poem relates to civil rights and about social injustice. Also, in the poem “Harlem” there is a line about “does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
    This poem is amazing because it relates the struggles in American society. I think Hughes wrote the poekm about wanting social change.

  2. Erika D. says:

    Thank you, Orville.

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