The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ by Langston Hughes

The poem 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' is the earlier production of Langston Hughes' poetic career. He was only eighteen years old and a recent graduate from high school. He wrote this poem on a train while he was going to Mexico to live with his father. When the train was crossing the Mississippi River, the sun was setting, and the poet was attracted by the beauty of the sight. He was reminded of its role in thriving and sustaining human civilization, along with its role in slavery and the slave trade in America. He had a long journey ahead of him. He took out an envelope containing his father's letter, and at the back of it he drafted the poem within ten to fifteen minutes.

The theme of this poem is closely related to the Harlem Renaissance. It voices the soul of the black community in a time of great racial intolerance, injustice, and inequality in America. Hughes helped to inspire and unite the black community when their voice was not appreciated by a predominantly white society, and as a result, he became the unofficial poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a movement during the 1920s and 1930s in America in which black artists, activists, writers, musicians, and performers found new ways to explore and celebrate the black experience. While the movement's epicentre was in Harlem, New York, cities all across the country became hubs of the renaissance.

'"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" connects the soul and heritage of the African-American community to four great rivers, like the Euphrates ( flows south from modern-day Turkey through Iraq, and it is the longest river in Western Asia. It is the cradle of the first human civilization in Mesopotamia. The ancient city of Babylon grew on the banks of the mighty Euphrates), Nile ( the longest river in the world and the land around it is extremely fertile and delicious.), Congo ( a river that now runs through three countries in Africa: the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola. It is the second longest river in Africa), and Mississippi (a river begins in Minnesota and spills into the g’ulf of Mexico, running through ten states of United States of America along the way). In this way, the poem charts the journey of African and African Americans and links this community to the birth of civilization. The speaker tells the tale of freedom and enslavement that his people have endured, and it heralds their wisdom and strength.

The poem was published in Crisis Magazine (the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) in 1921, a year later. A few years after its publication, Hughes chose to dedicate "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" to W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the most brilliant scholars, educators, civil rights activists, writers, and thinkers of the 1920s of America. Du Bois founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the NAACP), and the magazine ‘ The Crisis’. He fought tirelessly for racial equality in America, and Hughes followed in his footsteps.

 Text

I’ve known the rivers:

I’ve 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 lured 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 I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known the rivers

Ancient, dusky rivers.  

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

 Critical Appreciation

'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' is one of the earliest poems written by Langston Hughes, the famous American poet of the 20^th century.  Here, the poet has drawn a simile between the rivers and his soul. The poet is the representative of all the Negroes of all places and all times. The race of the Negroes is as old as any other human race on earth, and, as such, they serve to be treated as equal to all other races. Claiming his association with the four great rivers- the Euphrates, the Congo, the Nile, and the Mississippi – the poet tries to prove the ancientness of the Negroes, and this is an indirect claim for their equality with other human races. While he was crossing the Mississippi River, he looked out of the window and saw the muddy river flowing and contemplated what this river meant to the Negro people whose history is linked to this river. The river is also associated with Abraham Lincoln's decision to emancipate slaves. As the sun set, the poet took his father's letter and wrote this poem on the back of it. Hughes was greatly influenced by Walt Whitman in choosing the vernacular tongue for poetic expression. Here, a single speaker, an experienced black old fellow, like the ancient mariner in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', speaks of his journey through history. The poet successfully brought into this small poem the entire history of his ethnic group in the most condensed manner.

The poem begins with a single speaker using the pronoun ‘I’. The speaker tells us that he has known rivers and that his soul has come to be as deep as a river. Then he focuses on how he has built up this close tie with the rivers. He must be the representative of the ancient races, because he has been around for thousands of years. He used to go swimming in the Euphrates River when human civilization had just begun. He lived near the Congo River in central Africa, the home of the African Americans. He helped to build the pyramids in Egypt almost four thousand years ago. He heard the Mississippi River sing when President Abraham Lincoln took a boat ride down to New Orleans. He tells us again that he has known lots of ancient, dusky rivers, and that his soul has become as deep as these rivers. Like rivers, he has witnessed the rise and suffering of human civilization.

In "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," our speaker seems to be one person at first, but soon we get the feeling that he is a speaker for an entire community. His voice just might be the collective voice of his people. It tells the story of this community from the dawn of civilization until the end of slavery in America. The story that follows is told from the perspective of a member of the black community. The speaker charts the heritage of black Americans, beginning with the cradle of civilization in the Middle East and ending with references to slavery as seen from the Mississippi River; he traces over four thousand years of history. ‘He tells us that as a result of all that he has seen, heard, done, and witnessed, his soul has grown "deep as rivers." The journey takes us from moments of freedom (the Euphrates and the Congo) toward confinement (the Nile and the Mississippi). Ultimately, we watch the end of slavery and see freedom restored.

Although 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' was written at the early period of Hughes's poetic career, this poem successfully placed him among the modern classic poets like T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Hart Crane. He brought a new perspective to the practice of racial poetry. The reason for its being a mainstream modern poetry is the use of effective figures of speech. The figures of speech that he used for this poem include metaphors, simile, allusion, personification, and hyperbole.

The poem applies the extended metaphor of 'rivers' throughout the poem. An extended metaphor is a comparison between two different things that continues throughout the poem. In this poem, the rivers become a metaphor for the history, spirit, and wisdom of Africans and African-Americans. In the first line, the "rivers" mentioned are part of an extended metaphor that likens the soul of the black community to the ancient, wise, and enduring great rivers of the earth. The poet also applies similes to create his intended effect. In line two, the speaker uses a simile to compare the age of the rivers to the age of the Earth: "ancient as the world." In line four, he uses a simile to compare the depth of his soul to that of the rivers "my soul has grown deep like the rivers,". Similarly the poem contains several allusions to different historical sites and cities to focus on the central theme of the poem - the history of the African-American in the context of the civilizations of the world. The mention of Euphrates River and its fertile basins, the cradle of early civilization at once brings into our mind the city of Babylon and its hanging garden. The black American poet sees his origin stemming from the earliest civilization of the world. The allusion to the human habitation on the bank of the river Congo reminds us of the historical facts of Black Americans' motherland. Then, allusion to the Nile River and to the moment in history in which the pyramids were built amazes us with the active participation of Black Americans ' ancestors in building civilization and their pride in it. Finally, the allusion to the Mississippi River and to the moment in history when Abe Lincoln sailed down this river, witnessing the horrors of slavery, determines his later resolution to end slavery. The rivers are often personified to add dignity and objectivity the expressions of the poet. The Congo River, for example, is personified as it has lulled our speaker to sleep like a mother singing a lullaby. The Mississippi River is personified as the speaker describes its singing and as having a "bosom," granting it feminine, maternal qualities. The speaker also uses hyperbole when he says that he "raised the pyramids." We know he couldn't have built the one of the Seven Wonders of the World by himself. The metaphors mentioned here are analyzed to have symbolical dimension. The poet describes the "muddy" Mississippi turning "golden" as the sun sets and as night looms large. He talks of "dusky rivers" and of nights sleeping near the Congo River. In this way, our speaker highlights the conversation of race that takes place in the poem as well as the interplay of confinement and freedom that weaves in and out of the history he tells. The "muddy" color of the Mississippi is a metaphor for skin color in the context of slavery, and it becomes "golden" when slavery is abolished and when slaves are freed. The "dusky" nature of the rivers is perhaps a metaphor for both skin color, but also the shadows and darkness that haunt our speaker's past.

There's music to the way our speaker speaks, as though he's singing a song, saying a prayer, or leading a service. For some reason, we can't help but think of that ancient Greek poet, Homer, who had epic stories like 'The Odyssey' memorized and who would recite them for his audiences. Notice the similarity between Langston Hughes' poetic style and that of Walt Whitman. We know that Whitman was one of Hughes' favorite poets of all time, and we hear this influence in the everyday, colloquial manner in which our speaker speaks, and we hear this influence in the prominence of the first person, as in the frequency of the word "L." There's a gentle ease to "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." We can't help but be lulled by the rhythms of this poem. It's as if the steady chugging of Hughes' train (the one he was on when he composed this masterpiece), seeped into the poem's heart. The repetition of "I've known rivers" and "My soul has grown deep as rivers," makes us feel like someone is singing to us (the Mississippi?) or rocking us to sleep. It comes as no surprise to know that, in the tradition of Blues music, the first line is repeated twice.

As a bard of Harlem Renaissance, Hughes remained focused on the African American cultural issues for which he as a black American felt very proud of. His poems are short; the language is clear and relatively simple. His beautiful lyric poem 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' gives away to deep meditation. He chose forms based on African and African American folk form like fables, spirituals, children's rhymes, blues songs etc. For these modernistic features, most Americans realize that much of their culture is rooted in African American culture, and it is important to try to make sure that African Americans will be treated as "fully enfranchised American citizens."

Hughes seems to write in accessible familiar languages and in that he was influenced by poets like Carl Sandburg, Walt Whitman.Hughes seems to write in accessible familiar languages and in

that he was influenced by poets like Carl Sandburg, Walt Whitman,all of them wrote in a vernacular everyday language in the hope that their work could appeal to a larger audience. He is not interested in doing tricks with rhyme. He is interested in reproducing the human soul if he could. This is what makes Hughes such an important American poet as he brilliantly combines formal poetry with the oral tradition and refuses to draw a bright line between fine art and folk art.

The poem 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' tries to capture the internal emotional state. He uses this vision of rivers to transcend his immediate relationships and connect himself instead all of his African forefathers treating the immediate and the immortal. 'I've known rivers' at the beginning, and 'My soul has grown deep like rivers' at the middle and at the end gives the poem the feeling of like a sermon and spiritual and keep him with Hughes' use of folk forms. Then there is the catalogue of active verbs 'I bathed', 'I built', 'I listened', 'I walked'. Those verbs show people actively participating in human life and having agency that even amid oppression and dehumanization, those African Americans were still building, listening and walking. This steadfast striving and struggle encourages American society to acknowledge African Americans "as owners of the culture they gave to the United States and as fully enfranchised American citizens".

In being able to link the current experiences of African-Americans to a rich and vibrant history, Hughes is able to suggest that there is a long and profound cultural narrative that defines what it means to be African-American. The fact that Hughes argues African Americans have known "rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins" helps to convey this. It brings forth the idea that American society has not been around as long as the contributions of the African. While the condition of racism and slavery might be a part of their culture in America, Hughes is able to bring out a historical condition in which African-Americans own a culture that they have bequeathed to the United States, a nation that is relatively young in comparison to the deep and profound roots in cultural identity that Africans hold.

However, it is in this reality that Hughes's poem critiques the notion of what it means to be "fully enfranchised American citizens." Hughes argues that the deep and profound history that African Americans hold is one that transcends the current challenges they face in America. The reality is that Hughes's poem illuminates how the history of Black people will go on, despite the fact that they are not fully enfranchised American citizens. The poem succeeds in being able to evoke a condition where it is evident that colored people are not treated as fully enfranchised American citizens. Theirs is a history that moves beyond the contingent and the temporal. The poem brings out the injustice intrinsic to the denial of full enfranchisement as American citizens. While the poem cannot secure full enfranchisement because America has failed to secure full enfranchisement for African Americans, the poem brings forth a reality that such a denial is unjust and unfair.

Figures of speech

Although 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' was written period of Hughes' poetic career, this poem successfully among the modern classic poets like T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Hart personifying to add dignity and objectivity the e Crane. He brought a new perspective to the practice of racial poetry. The reason for its being mainstream modern poetry is the use of effective figures of speech. The figures of speech that he used for this poem include metaphors, simile, allusion, personification, and hyperbole.

The poem applies the extended metaphor of 'rivers' throughout the poem. An extended metaphor is a comparison between different things that continues throughout the poem. In this poem , the rivers become a metaphor for the history, spirit, and wisdom of African and African Americans. In the first line, the rivers mentioned are part of an extended metaphor that likens the soul of the black community to the ancient, wise, and enduring great rivers of the earth. The poet also applies similes to create his intended effect.  In line two, the speaker uses a simile to compare the age of the rivers to the age of the Earth: "ancient as the world." In line four, he uses a simile to compare the depth of his soul to that of the rivers "my soul has grown deep like the rivers,". Similarly, the poem contains several allusions to different historical sites and cities to focus on the central theme of the poem - the history of the African-American in the context of the civilizations of the world. The mention of the Euphrates River and its fertile basins, the cradle of early civilization at once brings into our mind the city of Babylon and its hanging garden. The black American poet sees his origin stemming from the earliest civilization of the world. The allusion to the human habitation on the bank of the river Congo reminds us of the historical facts of Black Americans' motherland. Then, allusion to the Nile River and to the moment in history in which the pyramids were built amazes us with the active participation of Black Americans ' ancestors in building civilization and their pride in it. Finally, the allusion to the Mississippi River and to the moment in history when Abe Lincoln sailed down this river, witnessing the horrors of slavery, determines his later resolution to end slavery. The rivers are often personified to add dignity and objectivity the expressions of the poet. The Congo River, for example, is personified as it has lulled our speaker to sleep like a mother singing a lullaby. The Mississippi River is personified as the speaker describes its singing and as having a "bosom," granting it feminine, maternal qualities. The speaker also uses hyperbole when he says that he "raised the pyramids." We know he couldn't have built one of the Seven Wonders of the World by himself. The metaphors mentioned here are analyzed to have a symbolic dimension. The poet describes the "muddy" Mississippi turning "golden" as the sun sets and as night looms large. He talks of "dusky rivers" and of nights sleeping near the Congo River. In this way, our speaker highlights the conversation of race that takes place in the poem as well as the interplay of confinement and freedom that weaves in and out of the history he tells. The "muddy" colour of the Mississippi is a metaphor for skin colour in the context of slavery, and it becomes "golden" when slavery is abolished and when slaves are freed. The "dusky" nature of the rivers is perhaps a metaphor for both skin colour, but also the shadows and darkness that haunt our speaker's past.