The Negro Speaks of Rivers Analysis

Langston Hughes
Poem
Ive known rivers
Ive known rivers ancient as the world
and older than the flow of human
blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the
rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when

dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it
lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the
pyramids above it.

Closer Look
-Diction in the word known entails a deeper understanding of the river,
the fact that the rivers supported him
-Denotation, blood means literal human bloods and the connection
between people and society
-Diction: rivers
-This particular word is the focus of the poem.
-Why didnt Hughes just pick some other body of water? (In other words,
what does river connote and why is it important?)
-Rivers weave in and out and flow gently. When Hughes uses an
implied metaphor between the flow of blood in human veins and the
flow of the river, he means that the flow of water is like the timeline of his
ancestry and personal history.
-A river also has depth; Hughes uses a simile: the depth of the river is
like the depth of his soul. Just like the river is ancient and deep, the
speaker feels a deep connection to even his ancient past. He believes
that his roots give him the wisdom and experience implied by the
metaphor of old age.
-Historical allusion: to the birthplace of civilization in the fertile crescent,
to ancient cultures in the Congo, and to slavery in Egypt by building the
pyramids.
The tone towards each place changes from beginning to end.
Euphrates: analyze diction
Bathed: a peaceful, pure setting
Dawns: the earliest collective memory that he
has of his culture.
Conclusion: a simple life, but at least free
Congo: analyze diction
Built: here is the first time in his history that he is
building things with his hands: this trend will continue. At least
here, he is building things for himself and not as a slave
lulled : In the Congo, he can find peace and
freedom still.
Conclusion: He is now a builder, but he is still
free.
Egypt: analyze diction
Pyramids: the first incidence of slavery. The
speaker, or his ancient counterpart, works with his hands but for

someone else.
Conclusion: No more freedom. (This is the
inverse of the Euphrates).
Imagery:
-In this section, the focus concerns the various rivers the narrator has
personally experienced.
-The actions listed off give specific images in the readers mind. The
verbs centralize the focus on imagery (bathed, built, looked upon,
raised)
Analysis:
-The narrator bathed in the Euphrates back when the world was young,
concluding to the fact that he is now elderly and reminiscing on his life
and the African American history
-Helped build the pyramids in Egypt (hyperbole)
I heard the singing of the Mississippi
when Abe Lincoln went down to New
Orleans, and Ive seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

Historical Allusion:
-Alludes to the Mississippi River and Abraham Lincoln, specifically when
he sailed down the river witnessing all of slaves and painstaking jobs.
-Lincoln witnessed a slave auction, heavily influencing his desire to fight
against slavery (1828)
Imagery:
-The sun setting on the Mississippi River, turning it to gold.
-muddy
-golden
-sunset
-The singing of the Mississippi again personifies the Rivers to
symbolize more than just a stream of water- something deeper and
more extensive to represent the African American history.
-Transformation from muddy and unclean to golden and visually
pleasurable.

Ive known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the
rivers.

Denotation, deep like an old river, also deep in experience.

Repetition of the sentence My soul has grown deep like the rivers
closes the poem the way that it started and reinforces the theme: the
ties that the speaker feels for his history along the rivers.

Collage of The Negro Speaks of Rivers