The Negro Speaks Of Rivers Langston Hughes Analysis

The well known poet Langston Hughes was an inspiring character during the Harlem Renaissance to provide a push for the black communities to fight for the rights they deserved. Hughes wrote his poetry to deliver important messages and provide support to the movements. When he was at a young age a teacher introduced him to poets Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, and they inspired him to start his own. Being a “darker brother,” as he called blacks, he experienced and wanted his rights, and that inspired him. Although literary critics felt that Langston Hughes portrayed an unattractive view of black life, the poems demonstrate reality. Hughes used the Blues and Jazz to add effect to his work as well as his extravagant word use and literary

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.

Langston Hughes was a poet with many artistic abilities. His writing and drawings established the lifestyles of many African Americans during this time. In a poem called “I, Too” Hughes express his feelings as an African American, a brother, and someone who deserves to fit in society. He states “I, too sing America” (1039). Hughes saw himself as an individual who has a voice in America even though his skin is a little darker. In a poem called “Democracy” Hughes states: “I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my own two feet and own the land” (1043). Hughes was speaking for every African American whom were still dealing with segregation, racism, and freedom.

Langston Hughes was one of the great writers of his time. He was named the “most renowned African American poet of the 20th century” (McLaren). Through his writing he made many contributions to following generations by writing about African American issues in creative ways including the use of blues and jazz. Langston Hughes captured the scene of Harlem life in the early 20th century significantly influencing American Literature. He once explained that his writing was an attempt to “explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America” (Daniel 760). To fulfill this task, he wrote 15 volumes of poetry, six novels, three books, 11 plays, and a variety of non-fiction work (Daniel 760). He also edited over 50 books in his time (McKay).

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.

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes is a 10 line lyric poem in free verse. This poem is compiled of 5 stanzas with various line lengths. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” doesn't rhyme, however, the repetition of the word “rivers” insinuates transition. This essay focuses on the importance of the word “rivers” throughout the poem because it discusses the origins of humanity and the interplay between racism and equality. Hughes discusses the connection between the Mississippi, Congo, Nile, and, Euphrates rivers that equate his African ancestry to humankind. Hughes uses “rivers” to test the notion that dark skin is associated with less value, and that all people originated equally.

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

The poems “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” by Langston Hughes and “the mississippi river empties into the gulf” by Lucille Clifton both use rivers to explain their deeper points. Hughes’ poem talks about how a man remembers and carries all his life life experiences throughout his life. Clifton’s poem explains how people go through life they carry their past with them. Both poems use the rivers as symbolism to which the rivers carry the same water as like people carry their pasts. Although, the water may change it is still the same water.

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.

     Langston Hughes’s writing showcases a variety of themes and moods, and his distinguished career led his biographer, Arnold Rampersad, to describe him as “perhaps the most representative black American writer.” Many of his poems illustrate his role as a spokesman for African American society and the working poor. In others, he relates his ideas on the importance of heritage and the past. Hughes accomplishes this with a straightforward, easily understandable writing style that clearly conveys his thoughts and opinions, although he has frequently been criticized for the slightly negative tone to his works.

“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was the first poem Langston Hughes wrote. With personification, “Hughes associates the ceaselessness of the might river with the eternal, life-affirming endurance of Africans and African Americans” (The Negro Speaks of Rivers). In the fifth line, Langston states, “I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young”; this is an example of personification because Hughes personifies the Congo River by saying how it “lulled” him to sleep as if the river was an actual human signing him to sleep. Langston also personifies the Mississippi River as he states “I heard the signing of the Mississippi”. In the poem, “the river’s singing invokes both the slave spirituals and songs of celebration after the slaves were freed”

Modernism was a philosophical movement that occurred in America and England during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This era is distinguished by the break with traditions of literary forms, styles, and concepts, giving creation to an assortment of cultural, art, and political movements. Perhaps nobody took as full of an advantage of the concept of modernism as poets did, expanding the possibilities of their works to unimaginable lengths. Poets such as Langston Hughes, William Carlos Williams, Gertrude Stein, and many others employed literary devices to portray important messages that they often buried in their works. From the use of these literary devices such as metaphors, imagery, and symbolism these poets were able to portray concepts of race, class, and gender in the Modernism era.

Slavery has influenced how people of African descent went forth and lived life. In the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Langston Hughes tells a story of the black man's journey to America while trying to hold on to his past. Hughes uses imagery and tone to create a picture that illustrated racial pride and dignity. Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” describes the positivity of being an American slave and the perks of Christianity. The major theme that runs throughout these two poems are how someone views their own race. Though each poem is set around the same time period, we can see two different effects of slavery and it could change in an person.