NEXT UP! 3 10 Harlem by Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over – like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Before reading Consider: What do you know about Harlem, the neighbourhood in Manhattan, New York? What do you think this poem is about? to defer – fresta to fester – sýkjast to run – hér: renna to crust – fá á sig skorpu to sag – síga The American author and social activist Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was a leading figure of the cultural movement called the Harlem Renaissance. Much of Hughes’ work illustrates the troubles and discrimination African Americans were facing at the time. The poem “Harlem” was published in 1951.
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