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 the wall rose,Rose slowly,Slowly,Between me and my dream.Rose slowly, slowly,Dimming,Hiding,The light of 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 shadowInto a thousand lights of sun,Into a thousand whirling dreamsOf sun!
Words in this poem
- smash v. t.
- To break in pieces by violence; to dash to pieces; to crush. [Cf. Sw. smisk a blow, stroke, smiska to strike, dial. Sw. smaske to kiss with a noise, and E. smack a loud kiss, a slap.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
As I Grew Older is in the public domain. This text is taken from The weary blues, Project Gutenberg ebook #74745; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Langston Hughes, As I Grew Older, in The Weary Blues (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #74745, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hughes-weary-blues/as-i-grew-older.html, id L01513.
Form and metre
As I Grew Older is 33 lines in 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in trochaic trimeter. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.6 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A---A ago · dreamA · then · me · sun · dreamA
- 2 -AABA--B-- rose · slowlyA · slowlyA · dreamB · slowlyA · dimming · hiding · dreamB · sky · wall
- 4 ABB-A shadowA · meB · meB · wall · shadowA
- 5 AA-----B-B handsA · handsA · wall · dream · darkness · night · shadow · sunB · dreams · sunB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It was a long time ago. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| I have almost forgotten my dream. | 9 | ··/·˘/˘·· |
| But it was there then, | 5 | ····· |
| In front of me, | 4 | ···· |
| Bright like a sun,— | 4 | ···· |
| My dream. | 2 | ·· |
| And then the wall rose, | 5 | ····· |
| Rose slowly, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Slowly, | 2 | /˘ |
| Between me and my dream. | 6 | ······ |
| Rose slowly, slowly, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Dimming, | 2 | /˘ |
| Hiding, | 2 | /˘ |
| The light of my dream. | 5 | ····· |
| Rose until it touched the sky,— | 7 | ······· |
| The wall. | 2 | ·· |
| Shadow. | 2 | /· |
| I am black. | 3 | ··· |
| I lie down in the shadow. | 7 | ·····/· |
| No longer the light of my dream before me, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Above me. | 3 | ··· |
| Only the thick wall. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Only the shadow. | 5 | /˘·/· |
| My hands! | 2 | ·· |
| My dark hands! | 3 | ··· |
| Break through the wall! | 4 | ···· |
| Find my dream! | 3 | ··· |
| Help me to shatter this darkness, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| To smash this night, | 4 | ···· |
| To break this shadow | 5 | ···/· |
| Into a thousand lights of sun, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Into a thousand whirling dreams | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Of sun! | 2 | ·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.