Similes galore!

"Dream Deferred" was my favorite poem out of this unit! It was fairly simple to break down, and I enjoyed the imagery that was described through figurative language. This entire poem is composed of several similes and one metaphor.

• "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" - The comparison between the dream and a raisin sort of grossed me out! When I picture a dried up raisin, I see a puny, squishy piece of old fruit. Ew. But looking at it through the eyes of a speaker, I think he was comparing the dryness to the lost of interest in the dream. Over time, a raisin dries up; over time, a dream dries up.
• "Or fester like a sore-and then run?"- This simile is gross, too. I immediately pictured an infected, open wound that was easily visible. When a sore festers, it bothers the person who has the wound, and could possibly grow to be more painful or it could spread to other parts of the body.
• "Does it stink like rotten meat?"-The disgusting use of details that Langston Hughes uses repulses me. Could he not use a different comparison to describe the dream? I mean, come on! Anyway, when something stinks, it turns others away from it. It becomes a repellent. Or, perhaps, maybe the dream has always been there, but one can no longer find it (similar to Mr. Costello and his lost meat issues).
• "Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?"-In my opinion, Langston was trying to convey that when a dream crusts over, it has been sugar-coated, or has been made to seem better than it really is because it has been put off for so long.
• "Maybe it just sags like a heavy load."-This phrase brought me to believe that when one has been carrying a dream around for so long, it has almost become a burden.
• "Or does it explode?" - This is the first and last metaphor used in the poem! It is also the most important line. I interpreted it as the dream is going to gain momentum and evolve into violence. Also, I think that this is what Hughes predicted to actually happen; hence, that is the reason why he used a metaphor for the comparison instead of a simile.