The literal meaning of this poem is that because he is black, Langston Hughes is unable to achieve his dreams.
As a child, he was unaware of the cruelty of the world and in his innocent optimism dared to dream of achieving great things.
As time went by and he got older, he realised that because of prejudice, racism and discrimination, his opportunities were limited and he was thus blocked from being able to achieve his dreams.
He uses figurative language to describe this tragic, literal reality. A simile, the comparison of two things by using as or like, is used to describe his childhood dreams as being 'bright like a sun'.
Using a metaphor, the comparison of two things without the use of as or like, he then goes on to describe prejudice, racism, discrimination and all the other obstacles thrown into his path by the world as a 'wall'.
This 'wall', as he goes on, kept rising 'until it touched the sky'. To put it another way, the world, the wall, blocked out the vision of his dreams, the sun, thus making it more or less impossible to achieve them.
The resulting despair is described as, or compared to, shadow as he goes on to say that in his defeat, 'I lie down in the shadow'.
All of these figurative symbols, the sun, the wall, the light and the darkness, are carried throughout the poem to the end, when he despairingly orders his hands to push through the wall to enable him to achieve his dreams.
Only when he declares 'I am black' and exclaims 'My dark hands', does he use literal language. This blunt truthfulness makes it particularly startling.
The fact that the single reason for these obstacles is his black skin makes it even more hurtful.
As a child, he was unaware of the cruelty of the world and in his innocent optimism dared to dream of achieving great things.
As time went by and he got older, he realised that because of prejudice, racism and discrimination, his opportunities were limited and he was thus blocked from being able to achieve his dreams.
He uses figurative language to describe this tragic, literal reality. A simile, the comparison of two things by using as or like, is used to describe his childhood dreams as being 'bright like a sun'.
Using a metaphor, the comparison of two things without the use of as or like, he then goes on to describe prejudice, racism, discrimination and all the other obstacles thrown into his path by the world as a 'wall'.
This 'wall', as he goes on, kept rising 'until it touched the sky'. To put it another way, the world, the wall, blocked out the vision of his dreams, the sun, thus making it more or less impossible to achieve them.
The resulting despair is described as, or compared to, shadow as he goes on to say that in his defeat, 'I lie down in the shadow'.
All of these figurative symbols, the sun, the wall, the light and the darkness, are carried throughout the poem to the end, when he despairingly orders his hands to push through the wall to enable him to achieve his dreams.
Only when he declares 'I am black' and exclaims 'My dark hands', does he use literal language. This blunt truthfulness makes it particularly startling.
The fact that the single reason for these obstacles is his black skin makes it even more hurtful.
