As I Grew Older
It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun-
My dream.
And then 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!

-Langston Hughes

             In "As I Grew Older" by Langston Hughes, the reader follows the journey of a black man with a dream who finds the courage to go after it.  The poet uses imagery and symbolism to illustrate the struggle he went through to overcome the boundaries that racism and discrimination had on his dream. The beginning of the poem starts slow as if it were a memory or a dream. "It was a long time ago." The speaker is looking back on his life and remembering a time when his dream shone bright and he had hope. "Bright like a sun-/ My dream." He had faith in himself and what he could accomplish. Hughes illustrates this by adding words like "Bright" and "Sun", which conveys a very hopeful and promising future. As the poem goes on a shadow covers his dream and the speaker succumbs to the darkness. "I lie down in the shadow." The shadow represents his fears, boundaries, and insecurities he faces as a black man in our society. His dream is hidden from him as he gives up and feels hopeless in our world of racism and discrimination. Then Hughes surprises us when the speaker suddenly finds the strength within himself. "My black hands!/ Break through the wall!" He realizes how strong he is and finds the power and pride within to push through the "wall" of darkness. He is able to "break this shadow" and turn it into a "thousand lights of sun,". Hughes use of symbolism and metaphors for racism to create a powerful and encouraging feeling for the reader. The speakers ability to see past all the hatred shown towards him exemplifies the faith he has in himself and his dream.
            The Harlem Renaissance themes I found throughout this poem were racism and pride. The idea around a shadow of darkness that "covers" people's dreams represents a true issue that many African Americans faced during the 1920's. Because of the discrimination against them, there were restrictions on what Blacks could accomplish. Langston Hughes portrays this idea perfectly in his poem about faith and pride.
             As I was searching for poems I started looking at poems Langston Hughes has written. I wanted to post one by Langston because I heard so much about him and he was also a prominent character in the movie we watched in class, Brother to Brother. When I found his poem I recognized it as one we had read in AP English at the very beginning of the year. As I read through it, images and ideas starting to come through and I immediately knew I had to use this poem. The idea Hughes was trying to convey to his audience is so clear and relevant to the topics we are studying in class. I love the metaphor he uses and the strength and passion he shows within the poem are truly powerful. We should all see this poem as inspiration for pushing past barriers and following our dreams.