The Negro Speaks of Rivers
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” Analysis
Langston Hughes was a great writer who was a representative of black writers during Harlem Renaissance. Most of his work depicts the lives of African Americans and race issues. He was known for his poems, and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is one of his famous poems (Hughes Biography). In the poem, Hughes tells African Americans’ evolution, and he is proud of his race. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Hughes uses point of view and figurative language to create a strong sense of belonging to the African Americans culture. In addition, Hughes allows the speaker to fully express Hughes’s own feeling about his race. Because Hughes is an African American, his root is in Africa.
In the first stanza of the poem, Hughes writes, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (line 2). Hughes allows the speaker to use first person to refer to the whole African American group instead of an individual. “Rivers” here are a metaphor. They symbolize that all human life is linked from earliest time to the present (Shayla). Apparently, the narrator is seeking for the history of the rivers; in fact, he is seeking for his own ancient history. The narrator emphasizes that rivers have longer history than human blood does. What he means is that African Americans have longer history than any other country’s history.
Hughes uses third-person point of view in the title, and then he switches to first-person point of view in the poem. In the title, Hughes announces the speaker is an African American. Then he uses “I” to represent the whole group of African Americans (Shayla). He successfully and clearly creates an image of the story he tells about the history of the African Americans.
The second stanza conjuncts the first and third stanza. The speaker says that his soul grows deep like the rivers (3). Hughes uses simile and compares the speaker’s depth of soul to rivers. In the first stanza, Hughes
Langston Hughes was a great writer who was a representative of black writers during Harlem Renaissance. Most of his work depicts the lives of African Americans and race issues. He was known for his poems, and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is one of his famous poems (Hughes Biography). In the poem, Hughes tells African Americans’ evolution, and he is proud of his race. In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, Hughes uses point of view and figurative language to create a strong sense of belonging to the African Americans culture. In addition, Hughes allows the speaker to fully express Hughes’s own feeling about his race. Because Hughes is an African American, his root is in Africa.
In the first stanza of the poem, Hughes writes, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (line 2). Hughes allows the speaker to use first person to refer to the whole African American group instead of an individual. “Rivers” here are a metaphor. They symbolize that all human life is linked from earliest time to the present (Shayla). Apparently, the narrator is seeking for the history of the rivers; in fact, he is seeking for his own ancient history. The narrator emphasizes that rivers have longer history than human blood does. What he means is that African Americans have longer history than any other country’s history.
Hughes uses third-person point of view in the title, and then he switches to first-person point of view in the poem. In the title, Hughes announces the speaker is an African American. Then he uses “I” to represent the whole group of African Americans (Shayla). He successfully and clearly creates an image of the story he tells about the history of the African Americans.
The second stanza conjuncts the first and third stanza. The speaker says that his soul grows deep like the rivers (3). Hughes uses simile and compares the speaker’s depth of soul to rivers. In the first stanza, Hughes