As I Grew Older

As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes

It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream Langston Hughes

.
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!

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Monday, 26 October 2009 20:17 Written by Don Pogreba

Comments

# Catie 2009-10-26 17:40

Langston Hughes has an excellent description of what happens when you try to remember your dreams. As most people know, you can remember y our dreams quite well for a while, but once you try to think about them more more, it slowly disappears. Hughes describes this odd event with beautiful language. He is try to capture his dream, but the harder he tries, the faster a dark wall forms in front of him, blocking the dream form his memory. He makes it seem so much terrible than most people would think, "I lie down in the shadow. No longer the light of my dream before me." He uses the darkness repeatedly to show how terrible it is to loose such a splendid thing as a dream, which he associates with the light. Overall this is a beautiful poem, even though it is simply discussing the common problem of forgetting ones dreams.

# Maria 2009-10-26 19:40

I have to disagree with the comment above. Rather than an examination of forgetting a dream, I believe the "wall" is the social boundaries that the speaker feels confined by. "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." It reminds me a bit of a similar concept in "Sonny's Blues", where the idea of entrapment within any number of things--a neighborhood, a social construct, a way of life--was examined. The dream can be any number of things, any number of quelled hopes or aspiration that the speaker, trapped in a blackness real and imagine, cannot reach at the moment. Nevertheless, there is the endless hope of change, of self-wrought beauty, of sun " 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!" It is a beautiful end to a poem that at times waxes despairing.

# ann 2009-10-26 21:32

This is a beautiful poem. It provides an intense contrast between light and dark. It instills a lost and desperate feeling associated with darkness, and an achieved happy feeling associated with light. It shows how people may change their goals and dreams and forget about them, but once remembered they become a part of you again. I feel like the dream that he lost was a childish dream that he had while growing up, but then throughout life he has had to change that dream and forgotten about what he originally wanted. When he finally comes to remember his old dream however, it opens up a new part of him again. Showing that no matter how old he becomes, he can still have and follow the same dreams he had many years ago.

# Keegan 2009-10-28 02:41

I think that Langston Hughes is writing about how racism shatters the dreams of minorities, particularly African-Americans (as he does write, "I am black," and was black in real life). As a child, the speaker dreamed of achieving or doing something so great that it would be "bright as the sun." But as he grew older, the speaker was kept from achieving his dreams by racism, which erected a wall between himself and his dream, thus throwing his world into the shadows of despair. However, he has hope that he can break through the wall with work (represented by his hands). This is particularly related to Hughes' life, as he spent a good deal of time and effort trying to gain acceptance among the white literary community, which he saw as the only way his writing would be taken seriously.

# tj11 2009-10-28 06:16

I have a strong feeling of accomplishment when I read this poem. Hughes describes the challenges of reaching a dream through the metaphor of the wall. The wall represents all the difficulties that people have to overcome to reach what they want. The symbolism of light and dark is important in the poem. When the narrator describes his dreams they are "bright like a sun" and "a thousand lights of sun", making light a positive image in reaching his dream. On the other hand, the wall is described as "this darkness", "this night", and "this shadow" making darkness seem like a block to his goals and dreams.

# KaylaAnn 2009-11-01 03:44

This is very beautifully written and definately keeps the reader intrigued. I loved the was he compares his dreams to sun and light, i makes a very vivid picture in my mind.

# erin33 2009-12-02 03:36

Its as if the author is describing what it feels like to be impassioned by an idea or dream, but as reality sets in and it becomes difficult to keep focus on that ideal it slips away. It becomes rather easy to fall back into the norm and no longer attempt to create a better future. I can see how this poem can seem to relate to racism; however,I think its much more general and wide spread. Anyone can be going through a difficult time or be oppressed. Anyone can dream about something better than tehir current circumstance. And anyone can loose that dream when they get caught up in society and trivial persuits or false happiness. I think that the author is showing the importance of keeping hold of one's dreams so the "wall" doesn't cover that individual in darkness and their dream is lost. People must stop the "wall" before it grows too big.

# ZachMarshall 2009-12-13 05:07

It reminds me of one of the short stories we read, about jazz and the ghetto. The speaker is saying that he starts out with dreams and is optimistic about life, but as a result of being black and growing up in the wrong circumstances a wall is put up to stop those dreams. And like most people in the ghetto the speaker stops trying to get past the wall and just sits down in the shadow which equals despair and poverty. Then the speaker suggests that to be able to accomplish his dreams he must find a way to get through the wall and get out of the ghetto.

As I Grew Older

As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes

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