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Langston Hughes The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

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Africans have both observed and taken part in critical historical events throughout time, as shown by "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," which spans from the earliest stages of human culture up until American enslavement. The author, Langston Hughes, displays the persistence of African cultural roots despite centuries of slavery and oppression in America. The poem makes the case that people of African ancestry have been around throughout human history and have played a significant role in forming civilization. The author uses similes often in this poem to get this idea of persistence through to the reader. Rivers have a long and rich history. The speaker claims their "soul has grown deep like the rivers" (line 3). Hughes uses a simile to create …show more content…

Hughes uses a free verse method to draw attention to the lines of the poem and their meaning rather than focusing on the rhyme scheme. However, when using a free verse method of writing, the poem typically flows smoothly and has little to no enjambments. This typical flow of free verse poems is not the case in The Negro Speaks of Rivers; Hughes uses enjambments on every line making the poem read more formally and slowly. Drawing further attention to each line through periods makes the lines appear as statements rather than flowing …show more content…

The author does so to show how the culture and people have been relevant throughout early parts that belong to history to more recent, here in the united states. Hughes writes about the Euphrates river, which happens to be one of the most historically ancient rivers in the world and has been around since some of the first recorded histories belong to humankind. He then talks about the Congo, another old river credited with being around during the early accounts that belong to humanity. Next, Hughes wrote about how they happened to be at the Nile and watched the pyramids go up (line 6), which shows that African culture happened to be around 2550 years B.C. Line 6 is followed by speaking about how the speaker has been to the Mississippi. At the same time, Abraham Lincoln went down to New Orleans, which mentions Africans and their forced involvement with slavery and their struggles to maintain their ancient culture during their transition to America. This example is more of a modern historical event representing the culture that has carried on to modern-day

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