"the negro speaks of rivers"

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“The Negro Speaks of Rivers”

By Langston Hughes

Ive known rivers

Ive known rivers ancient as the world and older than the




flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln

went down to New Orleans, and Ive seen its muddy

bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

Ive known rivers

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Imagine if our Earth could talk; what a story it would have to tell. It has come to my attention that this might have been the idea, which Langston Hughes was pondering when he created the remarkable poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. He takes us back to a place in time where the rivers are “…ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins”. This was a long time ago; it was so long that it’s beyond the limits of human comprehension. Yet, as a result of the genius and amazing talent of Langston Hughes, he brings us back in a simple short poem.

I admire the way Hughes creates the setting and the mood to match the theme of his poem, which I believe is the beginning of time. He uses words such as “ancient”, “deep”, “sleep”, “sunset”, and “dusky” to create a dark and mysterious atmosphere. As I was reading, it seemed as if he was painting a picture of this place in my head. Word by word, I read on and the deeper I went, the more vivid the picture began to be. “I bathed in the Euphrates when the dawns were young.” There is an almost boastful tone in the persona’s voice, suggesting that I was the first person ever back then, even before the first men and women were created.

I feel that he exuberates a deep sense of pride in his African culture, heritage, and history throughout the poem. His reference of the hut, which he built next to the Congo, and the pyramids, which he raised next to the Nile River, clearly shows that he was talking about Africa. I think he is stating the proud accomplishments of his homeland and the progress that would have taken place if it weren’t for slavery.

He jumps forward to the time when Abe Lincoln was “…singing of the Mississippi”. It appears to me that this enormous gap in time signifies the effect that slavery had on Africa, its culture and its history, which was robbed right from its home.

Towards the end of the poem, Hughes brings us back once again to the beginning by using the words that began this beautiful poem “I’ve known rivers… My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” When I read this, I was astonished at the flawlessness of the poem; I was impressed with the way Hughes connected the beginning to the end in the perfect, never-ending, and infinite shape of a circle.



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