No one can say for sure what makes a poem but is usually accepted that poetry is about the sound as well as the sight of words, and about the rhythm, the flow of lines, and the uniqueness of the words the poet chooses to use. Few people would dispute the poetic power of Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech known as “I Have a Dream.” Delivered in 1963, the speech calls for the end of racism in the United States and is considered to be a crucial moment in the American Civil Rights Movement. It was delivered a hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, which led the way to the abolition of slavery in the United States. In 1983 Martin Luther Kind Jt. Day was designated an American holiday on the third Monday in January, close to his January 15th birthday.
I say to you today, my friends…
I still have a dream. It is a dream
deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
and live out the true meaning of of its creed.
We hold these truths to be self-evident
that all men are created equal.
I have a dream
that one day on the red hills of Georgia
the sons of former slaves and the sons
of former slave-owners will be able
to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
"We will be able to join hands and sing... Free at last, free at last"