Langston Hughes The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

In the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes, the speaker is talking to the public especially towards the black and white community. In the first few lines, the speaker claims that they know rivers as old as the ancient world, saying that they have seen or lived a long time in history. This implies that the speaker has experience or wisdom because if someone’s been in the world for that long they must know a thing or two about the cycle of life and how it works. This suggests that these lines are from the experiences or memories (flashbacks) of other people, most likely from African Americans. The fact that the author uses past tense in this poem makes it a reflective and reminiscing tone as it describes history along with the

To end the poem, the speaker repeats the phrase, “My soul has grown deep like rivers” (Hughes 1020) to emphasize the fact that the African Americans, struggled so much that they basically dug their own hole and their way up in order to succeed or survive. The digging of their own holes means that they stayed true to who they were and fought their own battles until the very end and this just symbolizes how strong and connected they remained with their original self even though they knew that in the world they live in, they would have to fall in order to rise. In the beginning, Hughes mentions rivers and veins and he strategically used this to personify how an individual goes through various kinds of hardships just to be where they are today which was to become free. This also showcases how life is constantly flowing and never stops which can be similar to how the cycle of life is a matter of never-ending rise and fall. He utilizes repetition in this poem to allow readers to truly grasp the concept of what really went on during that time period. Throughout history, whites have always been organized into social classes or