"Let America be the dream dreamers dreamed- Let it be that great strong
land of love where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme that any man be
crushed by one above." Let yourself wonder and think back to your first
ancestor to cross the gigantic, chilling seas risking all, to start over in
America. This is what they would be desperately wanting and repeatedly saying to
themselves. This captured sense of reality is what drew me to write about this
poem. The desperate and anxious emotions that appear throughout its stanza gives
the poem its ancient background of how America was found. From people searching
for a free and fair world to them just looking for a little peace and chance.
The chance to start a wealthy and prosperous life with the fortune and
opportunity they all have come to hear about. Within the first stanza, the
author imagines back to a time when he had dreamt of a land so beautiful and
caring in which he could start over and is free to live his life as he wishes.
The author though, has already realized his false hope since reaching the place
in his dreams, America. It has turned out to be nothing like he had anticipated
or hoped for. He asks, "let America be America again", pleading for
the America he had once dreamed of. He next describes the difference between
England and America (above) where kings can not govern you as they wish and
people of a higher social status cannot push you around. He feels he is deceived
by this freedom and power for there is still so much prejudice and
discrimination. The reader realizes exactly how beautiful this man's hope for
America is in the line; "equality is in the air we breathe." He only
meant for a world of harmony and compromise, where possession was not nearly as
important as the man next to you. He continues on that the equality and freedom
were still just that illusion that he once imagined. The poem then takes an
interesting turn in tone when a question is asked. The author uses the
perspective of the reader who is hesitant to take what he says for truth. This
person asks, " who are you that mumbles in the dark," inquiring that
there are many people who have become satisfied with America. Hughes speaks for
those people whom have suffered for America to become what it has. Although
these people suffered, he goes on to mention the America will still follow the
same ways of the old land, "where the mighty crush the weak," and once
again equality is forgotten. After leading the reader to see how others were
never granted that which America was to give, he describes how and why this
still occurs. He speaks of a young man, whom is stuck in the endless chain of
power and greed. People are blinded by wealth and constantly want instead of
considering what others need. His identity again changes in the seventh stanza
when he portrays the men still serfs to the kings in the old world. Those who
needed America to be what they dreamt, because it was what gave them hope every
day they awoke. (I'm a poet too ya know) These people had such faith in the new
world; all their fears soon met with their valiant display of crossing the
unknown in search of their dreams, only to be betrayed. "O' let America be
America again- The land that has never been yet- And yet must be." This
line shows the desperate need for a land where every man is free. For if America
will not be it, there is no other place in the world that could become it.
Therefore, there is only one chance, but it is fading rapidly. Call me what you
will, but the hope of freedom will not surrender, he exclaims. He adds that we
must take back America from those who leech off others and only succeed from
others misfortune. Hughes most important line throughout the poem is when he
swears America will be what he has dreamed. "For it is an ever-living seed
which lies deep in the heart of me," he writes. In this line, the author
shows his real strength and determination. Even if he doesn't live to see
America become what he wishes, he knows it has already existed, inside of him.
As long as people realize and trust in this, there will always be hope. This is
one of the main ideas I think Hughes would have liked the reader to understand.
He ends the poem the same way the declaration of Independence reads, "we
the people," signifying unity and asking us to redeem our beautiful land,
and make America again! Looking past the text in the poem and glimpsing on its
structure, there are a lot unpredictable and erratic patterns. In the beginning,
Hughes seems to have fairly regular quatrains with a refrain in between the
three of them. This was purposely done to set a mood and to let the readers full
attention reflect on his plead. After each convincing stanza, there was his
disheartening refrain, to let you ponder whether or not America is what you want
it to be. Then the question is announced, and irregular stanzas set in. He now
would like you to forget about what he has talked about before, and now put
yourself in the lives of these men who worked so hard for America. He asks you
to realize why America isn't what it should be. Through four irregular stanzas
the refrains stop to allow you to grasp their sence of hope and courage, and not
to include his solitude. After these stanzas the refrain reappears, showing his
incomprehension of where things went wrong. The second to last stanza seems to
stand out from the rest since there aren't many words per line. He wrote these
lines very plainly and even announces just that. It shows what he asks and
writes about is not difficult to understand or complicated in any way, but so
easy to correct. Alliteration and assonance played an important role throughout
the poem. The author played around a lot with different words that sounded
similar or used a vowel or consonant to attach words. This occurred within the
phrases such as "pushed-apart", "slavery's scars", and
"Poland's plain". Although there seems to be no particular rhyme
scheme he does play around with slant rhyme while also using exact or no rhyme
as he chooses. He used many words and phrases over and over, sometimes even in
the same sentence, seemingly to embed it into your head. Even though, the poem
has an incredible flow to it, which probably can be credited to all of its
characteristics.