Composition

Outer composition

The poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes has a simple and irregular outer composition. The poem has 11 verses in total and is separated into four stanzas. The verses vary in length, but they are still rhythmical and bring musicality to the poem.

The first stanza contains only a verse: “What happens to a dream deferred?” (l. 1). The second stanza contains 7 verses (ll. 2-8). The third stanza contains 2 verses: “Maybe it just sags/ like a heavy load” (ll. 9-10), while the fourth stanza contains one verse: “Or does it explode?” (l. 11). The last stanza is visually different from the rest, as it is written in italics. This draws the attention of the reader and signals its importance. It also shows t...