My Favorite Poem
As I Grew Older
Langston Hughes Rating: 5 stars It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream. But it was there then, In front of me, Bright like a sun-- My dream. And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly, Between me and my dream. Rose until it touched the sky-- The wall. Shadow. I am black. I lie down in the shadow. No longer the light of my dream before me, Above me. Only the thick wall. Only the shadow. My hands! My dark hands! Break through the wall! Find my dream! Help me to shatter this darkness, To smash this night, To break this shadow Into a thousand lights of sun, Into a thousand whirling dreams Of sun! |
I really like this poem. I like how the poet uses his words to create a vivid image for the reader, and convey what he is trying to express. The title, "As I Grew Older", gives the reader a bit of a heads up that this poem is going to sort of be a tale through time. Just from reading the title, you will know that there will be a comparison between two time periods, most likely time periods significant to the speaker's life. Simply from the title I know that I will be reading about a turning point in this speaker's life that affected them in some way.
After reading the poem a first time, I linked the title and poem together, and saw a connection. The speaker is talking about the dreams and hopes he had as a child. The speaker says, "But it was there then, in front of me, bright like the sun- my dream." Why did the speaker choose to present his dream in such a way? Why would it be shining like the sun and in front of him? I think that maybe the speaker chooses to show his dream in such a way to signify how important his dream is to him. Perhaps it’s because when he was younger, his hopes and dreams were so strong, and nothing seemed impossible. In this part, I feel as though he is talking about the innocence and freedom of children. Children can dream big and not be discouraged because they believe in their dream. For children, their dreams are "bright like the sun" and constantly shining, and that light never seems to dim. Children have the freedom to dream whatever it is they want, and they will not be hindered by other peoples' opinion, or self-doubts, or insecurities they might have about themselves. That is the freedom and innocence that children have, and what the speaker once had. Also, the fact that the light of the speakers dreams are in front of him could show how the speaker’s dreams are like a guiding light, showing the speaker his path or helping the speaker remain focused on the “light” of his dreams. It’s nice way to think about dreams, and I think it’s something that everybody can relate to. For me personally, my dreams are really important to me because they are the base of who I am. Without my dreams, I’d be one of those lost souls with no purpose in life. However, he grew older, and the speaker says, "The wall rose, rose slowly, between me and my dream." In the beginning, I questioned what the speaker meant when he was saying “the wall”. I think when he says "the wall", he means it figuratively, in the sense that a mental "wall" or barrier "rose slowly" between him and the shining light that was his dream the more he grew. I believe that the wall was created by other people's opinions, his self-doubt and insecurities in his dream. This wall was only growing as he grew, because his mentality changed as he grew into adulthood. He began losing all his color that made him, him. He says, "Shadow. I am black. I lie down in the shadow. No longer the light of my dream before me, above me." Here, I feel like he is saying that as he grew older, the wall that had grown tall from people's criticism and disbelief and his own self-doubt, over-shadowed him completely. There was no light shining above him, no longer anything to differentiate himself from the rest of the world. He became a "shadow" of his former self; he no longer had the dream, or "light", to help him keep going. His "light" was blocked by this huge wall that increased as he grew out of the innocence of having unlimited and untouchable dreams. But then, I read the ending, and truthfully I think the ending is my favorite part. The speaker says, “My hands! My dark hands! Break through the wall! Find my dreams!” I think the speaker’s hands signify the freedom and power to “break through the wall” to find his dreams and create a future for himself. And I really like the concept of having power in my own hands, and using my own hands to show the world that I can do anything that I set out to do. I think there could be two meanings when the speaker says “My dark hands!” The speaker could mean it literally of course, in the sense that his skin color was dark, which would then be maybe one of the insecurities that built up the wall between him and his dreams, and would be something he accepted and used them to accomplish something in his life. Another thing the speaker could mean is that his hands, which once held power in them, had become dark due to zero contact with the light of his dreams. Maybe being away from his dreams for so long led him to become dark with despair, because he is lost without his dreams to guide him. And then the speaker says, “…to shatter this darkness, to smash this night...” and I feel as though the speaker is motivating himself to do take back his life from those who try to bring him down. Like he is telling himself that it is time for him to reclaim that light and find his path once more. I love this poem because I love the tone and mood of perseverance and determination that the speaker has shown from the beginning to the end. It makes me feel as though I can also do anything using my own hands, and that I will also have the satisfaction of accomplishing something with my own power. |