Analysis Of The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

Langston Hughes was the leading voice of African American people in his time, speaking through his poetry to represent blacks. His Influence through his poems are seen widely not just by blacks but by those who enjoy poetry in other races and social classes. Hughes poems, Harlem, The Negro speaks of rivers, Theme for English B, and Negro are great examples of his output for the racial inequality between the blacks and whites. The relationship between whites and blacks are rooted in America's history for the good and the bad. Hughes poems bring the history at large and present them in a proud manner. The injustice that blacks face because of their history of once being in bondage is something they are constantly reminded and ridiculed for but must overcome and bring to light that the thoughts of slavery and inequality will be a lesson and something to remember for a different future where that kind of prejudice is not found so widely.

Hughes began his life in strife and struggles; soon after he was born his mother and father parted ways leaving him with no father figure (Biography.com 2015). While his mother moved around, Hughes stayed with his grandmother. She died when he was a young teen, causing this young boy more grief but also allowing him to go live with his mother once again (Biography.com 2015). Soon after these trials, he began to discover the art of poetry and started composing some pieces himself. When Langston went to visit his father in Mexico he wrote a very famous poem named “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” which tells of the soul of the African American and the heritage within them (Biography.com 2015). Hughes mentions rivers in Africa, tying this poem deep to the roots and showing the journey from Africa to America. During this poem Hughes mentions how “My soul has grown deep like the rivers,” which was an exact representation of many African Americans downcast thoughts during this time period. (Hughes 2017). This poem expressed the soul and mind of the black community during this post-slave oppression. Many white men still held grudges against the different race and still persecuted them daily. This did not matter to the African American community because they continued to push and rebel against the racial injustice. Langston Hughes used his poetry skills to voice the heart and soul

Although, some readers of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” may interpret that the meaning of this poem is that any person and their lineage, due to the beginning of the poem starting at the Euphrates which not in Africa. This claim does hold merit, but you have to look at the deeper meaning of the poem and understand what was going on at the time Hughes wrote it. Moreover, in the title “The Negro Speaks” he is alluding to the “Negro” people and their voice. So, yes you could interpret the poem as speaking to people and their origins as a whole, but Hughes is mainly referring to the Negro

The poem ?The Negro Speaks of Rivers? by Langston Hughes contains many symbolic meanings about the identity of African Americans. Throughout the poem Hughes uses metaphorical statements to suggest to the reader what the soul of the African American has been through. The symbols of the old rivers from which the African American ideal has risen can be interpreted in many different ways. They represent the birth and growth of the African American culture, and some of the most significant moments of their past. The words written in this poem represent the pride and knowledge of a group of outstanding people.

One of the most influential marks in the history of men is the practice of slavery and the abolishment of it. This topic is deeply referred to in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. The book is plotted between the 1840’s and 1850’s, a period dominated by racial injustice. As far as the book goes, one is able to notice how liberty is thoroughly looked for but harshly found in that era, especially by the black slaves. The reader can notice how Jim, a black slave, is able to find such freedom only in the river. The river symbolizes freedom and escape from society and its discrimination. Furthermore, the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers, by Langston Hughes, also refers to how Negroes have used rivers as a source of liberation throughout

The poem ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ by Langston Hughes is about a man with a vast knowledge and understanding of rivers. The first two sentences of the poem are similar, as in both Hughes states, ‘I’ve known rivers’. From this the reader gathers that this man has been around rivers and probably lived around rivers. He talks about different experiences he has had on four different rivers. For example he says, ‘I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young’ and this gives the impression that he was around long ago when the river was just starting to form. Another quote, ‘I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans’ shows a passage of time from

and jazz into words. An African American Hughes became a well known poet, novelist, journalist, and playwright. Because his father immigrated to Mexico and his mother was often away, Hughes was brought up in Lawrence, Kansas, by his grandmother Mary Langston. Her second husband (Hughes's grandfather) was a fierce abolitionist. She helped Hughes to see the cause of social justice. As a lonely child Hughes turned to reading and writing, publishing his first poems while in high school in Cleveland, Ohio. The speaker in "The Negro Speaks of River" delivers his claims in a cosmic voice that extends throughout all time and space. This voice includes all peoples. Hughes' ancestry included three major race groups; he lived as an African-American (Hughes referred to himself as "colored" or "Negro," because he was writing before the term "African-American" was accepted widely); his parents were African-Americans. But Hughes' interests far

Langston Hughes uses both Harlem and The Negro Speaks of Rivers to evoke responses from his readers. Both of these poems are profound in and of themselves when simply read given the political and racial tensions at the time, but when read and digested, they can speak to any race, creed, or color. The use of figurative language in both of these poems is what makes them so easy to identify with. He uses blood, deep rivers, rotten meat, and other nouns to allow the reader to process what each of his or her own rotten meat or deep river is. Interestingly enough, when read passionately, the reader could get lost in his or her own story, but it is of upmost importance to remember that Hughes is chronicling the story of African American plight in such a way that allows anyone to identify with it. It is through this identification that allows anyone to develop pride and sensitivity for Hughes and his people.

In Langston Hughes' poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", he examines some of the roles that blacks have played throughout history. Ultimately, the poem asserts that in every one of these aspects the black people have been exploited and made to suffer, mostly at the hands of white people. The poem is written entirely in first person, so there is a very personal tone, even though the speaker symbolizes the entire black race. The examples of each role cited in the poem are very specific, but they allude to greater indignities, relying on the readers' general knowledge of world history. To convey the injustice that has taken place, Hughes utilizes the symbolism of the

Langston Hughes was an African American writer who took the literary world by storm in the twentieth century. Hughes was known for incorporating African American culture into his poems and plays. Langston Hughes did this so much so that per, "Masterplots II: African American Literature" he was "…recognized as the unofficial poet laureate of the African American urban experience…" (Niemi). Hughes has written several poems in his career. Most of them have a theme of racial pride incorporated somewhere in the poems. By analyzing Langston Hughes's writings, it can be inferred that the poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", "Negro" and "I, Too" all have the theme of racial pride.

One of his earliest poems, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, was written in 1921, long before Hughes would actually travel the world. However, without knowing the authors background and history, one might think it was written by a wise man of old age. Having only lived in various places in the United States, Hughes wrote this poem of an African American man who has seen the world, full with things many people never get to see, that nourished his soul and formed bonds with humans' deepest roots. The four rivers the narrator is mentioning, the Euphrates, the Congo river, the Nile and the Mississippi river, are all of great importance not only in the lives of all human beings, but slaves in particular.

In Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” used rivers to describe African American people and I agree he described them to be equal, using metaphors, similes, and allusions. Langston Hughes wrote this poem in 1921 when racial issues between Caucasian and African American people were a significant problem. The poem is written in “free verse” and uses anaphora to give the reader the effect that he is the one telling the poem. The poem gives the reader the understanding that African American people have been around for as long as Caucasian people and are equally intelligent. The rivers give us a great meaning to the history of African American people and the narrator has known their struggle. There is a feeling of death towards the end of the poem. This gives the reader the impression that we are still struggling to be equal and it has withered him until his death.

     Hughes frequently addresses the notion of heritage and the importance of remembering the past in his writing. He elaborates specifically on his own understanding of African American culture and ancestry. In his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Hughes compares his knowledge of his people’s past with the depth of a river. The lines “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the/ flow of human blood in human veins” convey the extreme age and richness of human society, including his own culture. Hughes writes that his “soul has grown deep like the rivers,” indicating that he has learned to respect and admire the customs, beliefs, and history of African Americans and their forbears. His belief in the importance of respect for one’s culture and its past seems especially significant when considered alongside his role as an advocate for African American rights.

One of the Harlem Renaissance writer was Langston Hughes (1902-1967). He was an American poet who was at the same time a social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was also one of the pioneers of the literature art form jazz poetry. Hughes’ began to write poems when he was still in his eighth grade. Particularly, he wrote “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” when he was passing by the Mississippi River, on board on a train down to Mexico with his father (Shmoop 4). Hughes was a key icon during the Harlem Renaissance because his works has helped the black arts and culture flourish in the 1920s. Hughes’ writing reflected his advocacy that “Black is

In Langston Hughes “The Negro speaks of Rivers”, the speaker sets a tone while makes a connect between himself and the earth he lived on. Rivers have