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).