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Analysis Of Langston Hughes The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

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Langston Hughes’ The Negro Speaks of Rivers is a poem that dramatizes the conflict that occurred during the Harlem Renaissance era. I am able to see that Hughes had an dynamic and intense meaning for this specific poem. We are able to see that African Americans played a vital part in history. In this poem we are able to see our speaker break down the heritage and history of African Americans. There are many different references made throughout this poem starting with the Middle East civilization and ending with images of slavery viewed from the Mississippi River. There are many historical grounds covered throughout this short poem, we are able to gain all of this information he is able to speak on from experiences and stories from those around him. We see that Hughes is able to make connections with the African American society and rivers, we are able to see that because both have endured and have been able to withstand the good and the bad. Both forms have been through many different overpowering situations that eventually made them more knowledgeable. Throughout this entire poem we see the speaking for his ancestors and the historical importance they have had all over the entire world..
However, the poem begins with several oddities that suggest the speaker is saying more than what he seems to say …show more content…

After reading this poem multiple times I am able to see that the repetition does in fact add more meaning to the sentence. Repetition in this poem helps the reader see the dual meanings that make reference to the roots and the history of African Americans that work to intertwined this poem. I feel that Hughes is able to convey multiple messages in his poem because of the particular writing style he chose, repetition, and

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As you read these three poems you can sense a way that Hughes is trying to get the reader to understand the meaning behind these poems. First you read “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and see that he is talking from the perspective of an African American before they are a slave but

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Writers and poets emerging during that time were recapturing the African-American past. Topics such as southern roots, new urban living, and African heritage were a few of their focuses. Langston Hughes was one of these poets transforming the Black image to the rest of the world. He was largely known for the raw emotions he emitted into his poems. Laced with Jazz and Blues undertones, Hughes’ poems that forced you clearly think about what he said.

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It talks about how yesterday was a thing of the past and that it cannot be changed. He talks about how each day, African Americans must march on towards their dreams. Despite prejudice, oppression, and poverty that African Americans faced at this time, Hughes points to a positive in that the only way their dreams will come true is if they focus on the present day and what they can do to fix things. They cannot be looking at the past and what has happened. His message to the audience in this poem is towards the youth, in particular African-Americans.

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Both poems shed light on the true feelings of African Americans everywhere and show that these people are tired of being treated differently and that these people know that things will change. Hughes’s poem has a laid back approach, almost expecting things to get better on their own. But Angelou’s poem is a bit more attacking. Instead of accepting that things are the way they are and that they’ll get better, Angelou tries to make her oppressors seem less oppressive to her and more scared of her by saying things such as “Do you want to see me broken” and “Does my sexiness offend

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Langston Hughes is an African American Poet who is very closely connected to his culture and expresses his feelings very thoroughly through his poetry in a jazz style. Langston Hughes is a modern poet who ignore the classical style of writing poetry and instead, in favor of oral and improve traditions of the Black culture. In majority of Langston’s poetry, many of his audience seems to take away a very strong message that many can apply to themselves or to others or his poems gives you an educational background of what’s going on in the African American community right now. For example, Langston Hughes writes a poetry piece called Afro American Fragment, which gives you a great breakdown of what an everyday African American person goes through considering that their whole history is basically taken away from them. Langston seems to show his audience that in books we never hear much about what contributions a African American person has done except for being brought to America and being a slave.

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In the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Langton Hughes uses rhetorical devices such as allusion and imagery to develop the theme of the poem. Starting in stanzas four to six, Langston uses four very famous rivers to trace back on where it all began. Throughout these stanzas he develops allusion because he traces back on to history and state that everyone are historically equal. “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

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