Grade 8: "Harlem" by Langston Hughes

In this brief but powerful poem, published in 1951 in his Montage of a Dream Deferred, Langston Hughes asks what happens when the dream of equality is continually put off.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dream
    a cherished desire
    What happens to a dream deferred?
  2. defer
    hold back to a later time
    What happens to a dream deferred?
  3. raisin
    dried grape
    Does it dry up
    like a raisin in the sun?
  4. fester
    generate pus
    Or fester like a sore—
    And then run?
  5. sore
    an open skin infection
    Or fester like a sore—
    And then run?
  6. stink
    smell badly and offensively
    Does it stink like rotten meat?
  7. rotten
    having decayed or disintegrated
    Does it stink like rotten meat?
  8. crust
    form a hard outer layer that covers something
    Or crust and sugar over—
    like a syrupy sweet?
  9. sag
    droop, sink, or settle
    Maybe it just sags
    like a heavy load.
  10. explode
    burst outward, usually with noise
    Or does it explode?
Created on Tue May 05 20:51:06 EDT 2026

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