To fling my arms wide
In some place of the sun,
To whirl and to dance
Till the white day is done.
Then rest at cool evening
Beneath a tall tree
While night comes on gently,
Dark like me--
That is my dream!
To fling my arms wide
In the face of the sun,
Dance! Whirl! Whirl!
The word “dream” echoes like a refrain throughout Hughes’s poetry, most famously in  “Harlem”  (“What happens to a dream deferred?…”). The impact can be felt, among other places, in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches and writings (“I Have A Dream,” etc.).
Dream Variations