I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind--
Of such I dream, my world!
From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), p. 311.
The powerful poet Langston Hughes has written many wonderful and inspiring poems. Though some might ask who is Langston Hughes? He was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best-known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the Harlem Renaissance, saying that "Harlem was in vogue". He often wrote about the struggles that were happening in that time and how he felt about them.
As I read this poem by him above, I instantly could tell exactly where his point of view was. He also worded this poem in a way that was so spine chilling I couldn’t ignore what the poem is about. In this poem he speaks of a world where everyone is equal and “man No other man will scorn”. He states he dreams of a world where there is peace; people no longer have greed, “And joy, like a pearl, Attends the needs of all mankind”.
It is amazing how even now, forty-three years later, people are still dreaming of that same world. As I go day by day I notice more hatred people have towards each other than I would have ever imagined. Instead of being proud of a peers success people would rather talk in envy, killing people slowly with words and actions one would only think the devil could do.
I dream a world of kindness, forgiveness, and the ability to be swollen with pride of not only ones own success but the success of others as well. I dream a world where difference is embraced rather than shunned, and helping towards others is as involuntary as the beating of ones heart. A dream of which the smoggy clouds of despair will clear and people will then experience the beauty of the sky. As these entire things sound wonderful, and even though Langston Hughes and many other previous inspirational people couldn’t change the path of the world today, I believe maybe, just maybe a common dream such as this can come true in the years to come.
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