Dreams Deferred

Similes in Dream Deferred
Similes used in “Dream Deferred” (“Dream”) have a common theme of things gone to waste or spoiled, and not necessarily in the literal sense. These similes are what gives the poem its depth, its color, its feeling. The images are painted so vividly for the reader, it is almost as if you are seeing all the things he is comparing a deferred dream to. The similes in “Dream Deferred” are what make the poem what it is.
To let go of a dream, or to defer it is a waste. The poem makes the reader think of what will happen if a dream is to be let go, ignored, swept under the mat, pushed aside, never becoming a reality. The graphic descriptions shows the reader what a sin it would be to let a dream go. “Or fester like a sore” (notes), makes it clear to a reader how unpleasant it is to let a dream defer.
“Does it stink like rotten ...