Claude Mckay's Poem In 'The Negro Speaks Of Rivers'

Cullen’s poem is based off of God’s actions while McKay’s poem has no reference to God. Religious figures have been an important component of human lives for centuries and it was very important to African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance. This was the case for Cullen’s poem, “I doubt not God is good, well-meaning, kind,” (1). Right in the beginning of his poem, he mentions some of his many feelings towards God. He continues to refer to God several times throughout his poem. The way he includes God in his poem suggests that God is the focal point of his problems. McKay’s poem, however, focuses the causes of his problems on something much different than a god or religion. In his mind, the source of his problem doesn’t come from God, but from white Americans. I think it is very interesting how opposite Cullen’s and McKay’s views on religion are. On one side, Cullen is a typical African American living in the Harlem Renaissance, using faith as an escape and reason for his troubles. McKay also shares a common characteristic of African Americans at this time which is to put the blame for his issues on white Americans. Cullen’s and McKay’s views on religion differed

Poet, Langston Hughes, in his poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," hyperbolizes his deep connection with the rivers with African heritage. Hughes' purpose was to express his pride of his african heritage through the language of first-person. Hughes' use of repetition sets the poem to be more nostalgic later on: "I bathed," "I built," "I looked", "I heard". He uses this tone in order to appeal a similar nostalgic feeling in his african american readers.

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

As time has passed humanity still tends to separate each other based on our racial being rather than seeing each other as one human race. Langston Hughes’s, “A New Song,” published in 1938 introduces the idea of a new vision of social relations in American society. Hughes’s original version of this poem written in 1933, does not encompass his growing anger on this subject that is dwelled upon in his published version. However, with Hughes’s powerful tone and word choice throughout his 1938 rendition, his reader is able to understand his urge to transform America into an interracial culture. (Central Idea) His poem voices the importance of transforming society into a multiethnic unity and working-class established through cultural ties between whites and blacks. (Thesis) Hughes voices this crucial need to change through his emphasis on African American’s past struggles as opposed to the new dream, his militant tone, and through expressing the role that the establishment of cultural ties plays in society.

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.

Under the line, "I've been a victim" the speaker says, "The Belgians cut off my hands in the Congo. / They lynch me still in Mississippi." These lines demonstrate that obviously the speaker is symbolic of the black race, and is not just one person. However, the author wrote them as if it were one person and that proves to be very effective, especially in this stanza. The use of the first person voice allows the author to illustrate suffering in a very personal way, while simultaneously making the statement that each person carries with them the suffering, if not the experience, of past generations.

Hughes story, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”, veers away from the conventions of Du Bois’s essay as rather than focusing on the value of black art as a key in social movements, it involves black artists who would rather neglect their blackness and rather took on the culture of whites. The speaker claims he enjoys being white more than being an African American, and Hughes describes this as “the mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art in America-this urge within the race towards whiteness…”. Much like Du Bois, Hughes writes about the “beauty” of Negro art, and aims to uplift the appeal of negro language and culture as he examines African American artists who stayed true to their roots and culture whose works are amongst those that are still heavily praised even decades later.

Dear Duy, I’m writing this to tell you more about racism and discrimination in which you told me you are interested. The racism has been happening as a big issue in human history. The reason I choose these two poems to show you how racism has been happening in America, and the victim being discriminated against are African American. That two poems are “I, too” by Langston Hughes and “The Negro’s friend” by Claude McKay. By analyzing these two poems and along with a speech on Ted talk by Bryan Stevenson, I hope to make it more clear and understandable for you to think about racism and discrimination in America from long time ago in history and still to now.

Bring a light on how people had extremely little sympathy for African Americans, exposing racism and injustices, for instance lynching, discrimination, torment, abuse, or looking down upon as dirty animals are just a few. Discriminatory groups murdered numerous guiltless blacks with no repercussions for the horrific act, making many to consider this type of behavior appropriate. In turn teaching children to be racist and also significant amount being raised this way. An example, McKay shows are these two lines from his poem “The Lynching”, “And little lads, lynchers that were to be, Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee.” (13-14) Children naturally grow up to be racist when they live in a racial civilization. Making it the duty of an adult to show right from wrong. Adults must teach children that people engaged in cruel acts are hateful and immoral, guiding them down a different path. Unfortunately, the time period of McKay’s writing took place when certain American’s thought that African American people had no value in life, making it so such manners of behavior in their specific cultural were natural and suitable.

Both Langston Hughes and Claude McKay are iconic poets who helped motivate the civil rights movement. Hughes and McKay spoke about the hidden nightmare behind racism and everything it stood up for. Claude McKay in the poem “If We Must Die” and Langston Hughes in the poem “I Too, Sing America” both express a similar theme and meaning through their use of symbolism, tone ,and imagery.

The first quatrain explains what happens to the victim after the lynching. McKay uses the words "spirit," "heaven," and "father” to describe the religious experience of the victim after his death (lines 1-2). The author portrays the lynched man as a Christ like figure who “ascended to high heaven” and is welcomed by God, his father. And at the same time God rejects the white men, women, and children who were lynchers because “their awful sin remained still

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.

McKay pointedly discusses and examines the radian inequality experienced by some American citizens during the twenties. Throughout the poem, McKay teeters back and forth between his intense positive and negative feelings of both America and the American way of life during this period, for example, his unexplainable love for the country versus the people’s racism which he personally encounters like when he says “l will confess/I love this cultured hell that tests my youth”(America,3,4). This was a very exciting time for many Americans as the roaring twenties were coming into full swing and society was celebrating the decade of carefree decadence, but there was a seedy dark side to America as well. For example, blacks in the South, where McKay

Claude McKay shows how differently death was symbolized in the poems. In the poem “The Lynching” shows that man did not have a chance to speak for themselves and was randomly taken from their family and hangs to death. A black man was lynched while other people watch the cruel act of the white men. The last two sentence from the poem “And little lads, lynchers that were to be, Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee” shows racism and a continuation of lynching. The little lads represent the future generation of lynchers. Therefore, we can say that black man will still be a target for the white men in the future. In contrast, the poem “If We Must Die”, the African men wishes to choice their own death; be it an honourable death than

This poem is about people’s greed. Right now we live in a world where we want more and more and this poem is trying to show people that being greedy is just a bad trait that doesn’t get you anywhere in life. I am obviously protesting about the greed that people have in this world and the fact that we need to overcome this as a society. I wrote this poem to show people what they are like when they want something because of greed. I used the same rhyming scheme as Claude McKay did in his poem “The Lynching”.