Crystal Stairs

Langston Hughes, wrote "A Dream Deferred" from which the play A Raisin in the Sun gets its title also wrote "Mother to Son."  Read the poem below and explain how it connects to the play A Raisin in the Sun. (The deadline to post a response to this blog is midnight, Tuesday, December 18, 2012). 

MOTHER TO SON

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.