The poem Dream Boogie by Langston Hughes is an extraordinary piece of art which is taken from his book Montage of a dream deferred. The poem generally takes the format of bebop jazz, which was popular at the time of the Harlem Renaissance. It is characterized by sudden changes in the rhythm and the use of quick and short lines. The main persona in the poem is frustrated person who asks if the listener has heard the boogie-woogie rumble of a dream deferred.
The second voice in the poem is the listener who assumes that it is a happy beat despite the first persona’s pleas. Even though his/her dream is deferred, the persona says that he is happy. He/she covers his sadness with claims happiness. I argue that by presenting the poem Dream Boogie as bebop jazz music, Langston Hughes makes it easier for the African-Americans to air out their concerns to the mainstream Americans and still be able to entertain them, which is important because they really needed a platform where they could let out their pent up frustration.
Dream Boogie by Langston Hughes discusses the discontent of the African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance, which is brought out through the tone of the poem set in the first stanza. Although the word ‘daddy’ means father in Standard English, this term is used as a slang. In the following line, Hughes discusses this discontent metaphorically as, “Good morning daddy!” (Hughes 1) Here, the poet choose to use the word as an endearment term for a friend. Both the persona and the audience are African Americans who are connected by the love of jazz and and the frustration of racism, thus they consider each other as friends.
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In the second stanza, the persona still requests the listener to hear what he is trying to say but instead, he interrupts the speaker by saying “You think…It’s a happy beat?” (Hughes 3) in stanza three. This brings out the fact that despite the societal ills that the African –Americans had to go through such as racism, dreams deferred and poverty, their white counterparts could not understand. It’s a pain that only they could feel. To the white Americans, jazz was a source of happiness and nothing more.
Dream Boogie by Langston Hughes discusses discontent of the African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance which further brought out in the fourth stanza. Although the speaker still requests to be heard, this plea is interrupted yet again. In the following line, the poet still brings out how the black Americans were not given a listening ear as, “What did I say?” Here, the poet is suggesting that the African-Americans had to go through oppression such as lack of freedom of speech. The speaker then respond to the listener in the next stanza using three short sentences, “Sure…I’m happy…Take it away!” (Hughes 6)
Here, Hughes highlights the frustration of the speaker who has realized that no matter how hard he tries, he will not be understood. Throughout history, the African-Americans had to smile amidst oppression since it was the only way to survive amongst their other counterparts. The last line of that particular stanza which says, “Take it away!” (Hughes 6) could have a metaphorical meaning where the speaker wishes that the burdens that he has to be taken away. It could also a normal way of telling the listener to sing the next lyrics of the song. The last stanza of the poem fails to give any meaningful information that the listener can understand. This is just a way to prove that no matter how much they speak, the African –Americans were not understood by the mainstream American.
Work Cited
- Hughes, Langston. Dream boogie. British Council, 1993.
