Langston Hughes Allusion

English 1
1 April 2012
Langston Hughes’s “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” Langston Hughes was born February 1st, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Lynching was a growing problem where he lived growing up. His parents divorced when he was young and racism made Hughes’s father leave the country for Mexico while his mom traveled from city to city looking for work as a journalist and stenographer. Langston Hughes went to high school in Cleveland, Ohio where he started writing poetry, short stories, and plays. After graduating, Hughes attended Columbia University for one year in 1921, but soon became a victim of racial prejudice and left. Later in Langston’s adulthood, he attended Lincoln University. Hughes achieved fame during the time of the Harlem
An example of an allusion found in Langston Hughes’s poem would be in line five. It says, “I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young” (5). This allusion is referring to the Euphrates River that runs through Western Asia. Another example of an allusion would be in line six. Line six says, “I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep” (6). The allusion is referring to the Congo River in Central Western Africa. One more example of an allusion found in Hughes’s poem is in line seven. It says, “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it” (7). This allusion is referring to the Nile River that runs through Egypt in Northern Africa. One more example of an allusion would be in line eight. Line eight says, “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” (8). This allusion is referring to the Mississippi River in the United States when Abraham Lincoln traveled down to New Orleans to witness the horrors of slavery. Another element found in the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, is personification. One example of personification from this poem is found in line six. Line six says, “I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep” (6). The Congo River is being personified as a maternal figure lulling the speaker to
An example symbolism in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is in lines two and three. These line say, “ I 've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood/in human veins” (2-3). These lines symbolize the black community knowing from the extended metaphor also present in these lines. It also symbolizes their existence on Earth and their connection with nature. Another example of symbolism in this poem would be in lines nine and ten. Lines nine and ten say, " 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” (9-10). When the lines say, “I heard the singing of the Mississippi” (9), that symbolizes the singing of the African American slaves being freed on the Mississippi River. In line ten it says that, “I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.”(10), also means that the slaves working on the Mississippi were freed and the river was finally