Subjects:
Langston Hughes, a poet in the early twentieth century
is known for his poems about urban life and racial
affirmation. In the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Hughes
tells a story of the black man’s evolution to America. The
poem illustrates racial pride and dignity. Hughes uses
symbolism, free verse, and tone to create a clear picture of
In the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers Hughes uses the
use of symbolism to convey the story of his people. The
poem must be critically analyzed to fully understand the
essence of Hughes writing. The use of the “I” throughout
the poem refers to the black people as a hole, not as an
individual person. The “rivers” are used as a metaphor for
. . .
comprehensible. He is now a
black man who has experienced the pain of slavery and
racism, and his soul now has the trademark of these
experiences. The “muddy bosom” is refereed
to as a black mother which he rests secure forever. The poem traces the
movement of black life from the Euphrates and Nile Rivers in
Africa to the Mississippi. The Euphrates symbolizes the
original center of human civilization. At the end of
the poem Hughes writes, “My soul has grown deep like the
rivers”, suggest the understanding beyond the memory of the
suffering of slaves, but a more deeply memory of freedom. An Example
of free verse is written throughout the whole poem. “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids
above it” refers to the act of slavery.
The poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers is written in an
open form of poetry.
. Hughes combines many
different aspects of literature including symbolism, tone,
and free verse to illustrate the experiences of the Negro
man. The second time the line appears it suggests
that he is no longer the same man who “bathed in the
Euphrates” and built his hut near the Congo. The
sunset represents Afro American’s freedom. Hughes uses the Abe
Lincoln as a symbol of American slavery which was a
transformation of slaves into free men.
Essay's Topics
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