Dreams

“Dreams” is a lyric poem. It’s short and expresses the personal emotions of the speaker. As the poem revolves around individual feelings, it qualifies as a confessional poem. The speaker reveals or confesses something about herself: She tells the reader what she was like when she was younger and how growing up changed her.

The speaker is a woman. She wants to be a part of the all-girl singing group the Raelettes. The poem’s speaker is also a Black person. She’s a member of a marginalized ethnicity that’s not “suppose to dream” (Line 4). Since Giovanni is a Black woman who routinely writes autobiographical poems, it’s reasonable to assume the speaker of “Dreams” is Giovanni. Out of respect for the difference between Giovanni the person and the poetic persona Giovanni creates, it’s fine to call the speaker “she” or “her.” Maintaining a distance between Giovanni and the speaker doesn’t prohibit a thorough understanding of the poem.

The poem begins with a wistful tone. The speaker reflects on her childhood or “younger years” (Line 1). There’s a bit of melancholy or sadness when the speaker introduces the theme of racism. As a child, the speaker didn’t know “black people / aren’t suppose to dream” (Lines 3-4). Since the speaker has much in common with Giovanni, it’s reasonable to conclude that the speaker grew up in the United States during the mid-1900s and endured segregation and countless forms of oppression. In an article for Literary Hub, Giovanni talks about white boys “calling us names. Spitting at us and worse” (Giovanni, Nikki. “Nikki Giovanni on Race, Hope, Fatherhood, and Roots.” Literary Hub, 20 May 2016). Then, like now, many people thought of Black people as unequal. They believed Black people were inferior and not entitled to dreams. The racism made Black people vulnerable to verbal abuse, physical assault, and murder.

The child isn’t aware of the virulent racism that surrounds her, so the tone has an innocent or hopeful quality. America’s pernicious prejudice has yet to impact her. She still believes she’s in a society where she can dream like everyone else. The speaker isn’t a child anymore. She writes her poem from the vantage point of an older person. She knows society doesn’t think Black people should have access to a robust future. Thus, the melancholy continues. The speaker has lost her innocence. She’s mature and knows about the foul racism in the world.

The poem shifts to an exuberant and declarative tone when the speaker states her wish to be “a raelet” (Line 6). When the speaker was young, she knew what she wanted to be: a member of the all-girls group that provided vocals for Ray Charles. When the speaker was a child, she had confidence and a keen sense of self. She had a specific goal: musical stardom.

The inclusion of the lyrics reinforces the emphasis on music and creates a musical tone. Giovanni uses diction—words—to recreate how the words sound in the songs. Thus, “drowned” becomes “dr o wn d” (Line 7), “talkin” becomes “tal kin” (Line 8), and “baby night and day” turns into “baaaaaby nightandday” (Line 9). Giovanni breaks up words and collides them to convey the passion of the music. The song lyrics are an example of allusion. Giovanni uses the literary device to allude, or refer, to the songs. She doesn't name them: She references them through lyrics to keep the poem moving.

Giovanni also uses the literary device of imagery to build the high-spirited tone of the middle section. Using vivid language, she creates a picture of the Raelettes’ lead singer, Marjorie Hendricks. She shows Hendricks “grind / all up against the mic / and scream” (Lines 9-11) the lyrics to the Ray Charles song “Night and Day.” The diction—words like “grind,” “all up,” and “scream”—further the intense, feverish tone in Lines 5-13.

Near the end of the poem, the diction changes, and the new words, “grew and matured” (Line 14), quiet the tone and give it a practical feel. The speaker ages and becomes “more sensible” (Line 15). The piercing, stirring lyrics are gone. Once again, the speaker suggests loss or melancholy. Yet the loss isn’t necessarily bad. The speaker’s tone isn’t disappointed. It’s not bad the speaker has figured out how to “settle down” (Line 17)—it’s good.

The speaker has made a sustainable, admirable life for herself. The tone is warm and heartfelt. She’s a “sweet inspiration” (Line 19). The conclusion indicates that Giovanni wrote the poem to tell the reader that Black people can dream, but dreams don’t have to be only about stardom. There are other ways to inspire people. A person doesn’t have to exist in the spotlight to elicit praise or emulation.

The poem's main themes include race, stardom, gender, and how to be a powerful adult. Marjorie Hendricks symbolizes these themes. She was a Black woman who became famous. Yet the renown didn't produce a long, fruitful life. She experienced drug and alcohol use disorders and died before she was 40. The speaker juxtaposes or contrasts her trajectory with Hendricks's life. Her calmer life is less dramatic and less known, but it's valuable and sustainable.