"Dream Variations" is divided into two stanzas. Both stanzas follow a young man who describes his yearning to experience life to its fullest and with boundless joy.
In the first stanza, the speaker of the poem—perhaps Hughes himself—conveys a desire to embrace the world to its fullest. That is typified by the act of flinging one's arms wide under a bright sun. The sensation caused by flinging one's arms wide reinforces the speaker's feeling of freedom, which quickly transitions into a wish for rest "in the cool evening." This symbolizes the natural flow of life and the hope for peace after going through struggles.
The second stanza largely mirrors the first but has subtle variations that emphasize the defiance and resilience the speaker feels "in the face of the sun," showing that the speaker is unburdened by racial prejudices that have plagued him in the past. The poem concludes with a description of a peaceful nighttime and with the phrase "Black like me," encapsulating the dream of a world where the speaker's racial identity is as celebrated and natural as the nighttime itself.
