"Dreams" is an early poem by American poet Langston Hughes, one of the leading figures of the 1920s arts and literary movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Originally published in the magazine The World Tomorrow in 1923, it explores themes that would echo throughout Hughes's work: the sustaining power of dreams (especially in the face of difficult realities) and the problems that arise when dreams are thwarted or abandoned. Its two short stanzas deliver an urgent warning never to let dreams die.

• Read the full text of “Dreams”

• “Dreams” Summary

• “Dreams” Themes

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    The Necessity of Dreams

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-8

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Dreams”

  • Lines 1-2

    Hold fast to ...
    ... if dreams die

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 3-4

    Life is a ...
    ... That cannot fly.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-6

    Hold fast to ...
    ... when dreams go

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-8

    Life is a ...
    ... Frozen with snow.

    

    

    

    

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• “Dreams” Symbols

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    The Broken-Winged Bird

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly.”
  • 

    The Frozen Field

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “a barren field / Frozen with snow.”

• “Dreams” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Line 2
    • Lines 3-4
    • Line 5
    • Line 6
    • Lines 7-8

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “dreams die”
    • Line 3: “broken,” “bird”
    • Lines 7-8: “field / Frozen”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-3: “die / Life”
    • Line 4: “fly.”
    • Line 6: “go”
    • Line 8: “Frozen,” “snow.”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Hold fast to dreams / For”
    • Line 2: “dreams”
    • Line 3: “Life is a”
    • Lines 5-6: “Hold fast to dreams / For”
    • Line 6: “dreams”
    • Line 7: “Life is a”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “bird / That”
    • Lines 7-8: “field / Frozen”

• “Dreams” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Fast
  • Broken-winged
  • Barren
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Hold fast to dreams”; Line 5: “Hold fast to dreams”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Dreams”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Dreams” Speaker

• “Dreams” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Dreams”

• More “Dreams” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poem Out Loud — Watch Dr. Christopher Emdin of Columbia University read "Dreams" aloud and explain what the poem means to him as an educator.

    • "Dream Variations" at the Academy of American Poets — Read another famous Hughes poem about dreams, one that engages with racial divisions and describes the speaker's own liberating dream.

    • Jazz Poetry — A brief guide to the innovative style that Hughes and other Harlem Renaissance writers developed in their work.

    • "How Langston Hughes’s Dreams Inspired MLK’s" — Read about connections between Langston Hughes's poetry and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s oratory, including his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech.

    • The Harlem Renaissance — Learn more about the cultural and artistic movement Hughes helped pioneer.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Langston Hughes

    • As I Grew Older

    • Aunt Sue's Stories

    • Cross

    • Daybreak in Alabama

    • Democracy

    • Dream Variations

    • Harlem

    • Homecoming

    • I Look at the World

    • I, Too

    • Let America Be America Again

    • Mother to Son

    • Night Funeral in Harlem

    • The Ballad of the Landlord

    • Theme for English B

    • The Negro Speaks of Rivers

    • The Weary Blues

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