The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes - Essay Example

It is a celebration of the voice of the black community when there was a major crisis in America between whites and blacks. It was a time of great racial intolerance which did not stop there but took away justice and equality with its tide.

The poem speaks about the soul of a black who shares his African experience in the lines: “I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.” The ancient time that the speaker recalls was the time when the white race was slaves to the Egyptians who used to build pyramids. The Mississippi River is a symbol of human blood that encompasses all races. The American experience is also highlighted in the poem when the speaker claims: “I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln / went down to New Orleans . . .” Lincoln is a reminder to the readers of the time of the liberation of slaves.

Hughes as the voice of the speaker in the poem repeats the line “My soul has grown deep like the rivers” because the soul is the essence of one’s life and the person who is successful enough to recognize his soul manages to recognize his own identity. The depth in which the poet takes the readers is worth appreciating and has a lasting impact on the socio-historical perspective of life which was dominant in those days. For him, the bond of humans is the connection through the souls which were essentially the same because everyone is linked by blood as creatures of God. He eliminates racial discrimination in a transcendental style. He connects himself to the cosmos and looks beyond his biological existence in the times when people killed each other because of status and creed.

The link of the speaker to all the races blends him with the others as a non-existent being who has a great influence on everyone. The soul and the heritage of the African-American community are fully merged to the great rivers in Africa, America and the Middle East which makes links of the community to the birth of civilization. In this manner, the poem is more of a tale about the journey of the Africans from freedom to enslavement and then it recollects the strength and wisdom of the community in hope of the revival of the past experience.