Dreams

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1968

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Cultural Context

To understand the references in the poem, the reader needs to know a few things about American culture in the mid-20th century—in particular, the music culture. The speaker in “Dreams” has a dream. She states, “i wanted to be / a raelet” (Lines 5-6). The Raelettes were a girl group that formed to provide backing vocals to the songs of Ray Charles—hence, their name, the Raelettes.

Ray Charles is a legendary R&B singer. Charles was a person with complete loss of sight, but that didn’t stop him from superstardom. Rolling Stone magazine named him the 10th greatest artist of all time, and “Dreams” features the lyrics to three of his hit songs: “dr o wn d in my youn tears” (Line 7) comes from “Drown in My Own Tears”; “tal kin bout tal kin bout” (Line 8) is from Charles’s “Talkin’ Bout You”; and “baaaaaby nightandday /baaaaaby nightandday” (Lines 12-13) is in “The Right Time.” As the speaker knows these lyrics and dreams of singing them, she’s a big fan of Ray Charles and the Raelettes.

As a young woman, the speaker imagines herself as Marjorie Hendricks (the common spelling is Margie Hendrix). The Raelettes had many members, but Hendrix was the star. Charles claimed she had more force than Aretha Franklin and Etta James—two other famous Black female singers. Giovanni conveys the intensity of Hendricks’s singing by adding four additional “a’s” to “baby” and smashing “night and day” together (Lines 12-13). Hendricks’s singing explodes words and reconfigures them.

The speaker’s dream of Hendricks omits the drawbacks of fame and celebrity culture. Hendricks and Charles had a few affairs, and, following one fight, Hendricks left the Raelettes. The exploitative, unrelenting pressures to perform at a high level appeared to have led Hendricks to alcohol and heroin use. She tried to launch a solo career, but it never took off. She died in New York City before she was 40.

Life in the entertainment business isn’t the dream the young speaker thinks it is. Realizing this, the speaker stays away from the toxic celebrity culture and becomes “more sensible” (Line 15). She rejects the chaotic life of performers and stars, and she chooses to “settle down” (Line 17). Contesting a culture that emphasizes fame, the speaker discovers that a person can be “a sweet inspiration” (Line 19) outside of the limelight.

Literary Context

Nikki Giovanni was a member of the Black Arts Movement. The artistic community began in the 1960s. Scholars often cite the controversial poet and writer Amiri Baraka as its founder. The goal was to encourage Black artists—poets, writers, musicians, and so on—to express themselves with abandon. The point was to create art for Black people and not for white audiences or mainstream culture.

“Dreams” echoes the priorities of the Black Arts Movement with its focus on Black artists—Marjorie Hendricks and Ray Charles. Giovanni expresses the speaker’s dream in her unique way. She does away with capitalization, splits words apart, and smashes words together. The poem speaks directly to Black people. It tells them they can dream: They can empower and inspire by becoming mature and rational—life doesn’t have to be limelight or bust.

The Black Arts Movement came after the Harlem Renaissance, and the two movements had a fair amount in common. They both encouraged Black artists to express themselves. However, people in the Black Arts Movement felt the Harlem Renaissance cared too much about pleasing mainstream audiences and gaining acceptance into white institutions. Nonetheless, the movement that began in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s links to Giovanni’s “Dreams.”

The Harlem Renaissance poets used pointed language, so the influence of the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement manifests in Giovanni’s lyrical poem. Like Langston Hughes, a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Giovanni brings together Black music and poetry. Similar to Hughes, Giovanni addresses the limited opportunities for many Black people. Hughes, too, uses the language of dreams. In “Harlem” (1951), Hughes asks, “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Line 1). Almost three decades later, Giovanni answers Hughes. Her speaker doesn’t defer her dream. She figures out a sustainable dream.