The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes - Essay Example

Langston Hughes uses free verse and the rhythm of a preacher to narrate the poem. Notably, Langston Hughes uses the repetition of words and phrases as seen at the beginning of every line. Most specifically, he repeats the word “I” in phrases like “I bathed,” “I looked,” “I built,” and “I heard” (Hughes 1).

The repetition helps in deriving emphasis and relating the speaker with the narration. It is also clear that the speaker identifies himself with his ancestors by using different images to depict their historical, religious, and cultural significance (Hughes 1). We can identify the poet’s prowess and intellectual capacity where he relates the new generation with the rest of human civilization. The speaker’s reference to the four ancient rivers and Abe Lincoln presents the connection between the new generation and ancient human civilization (Hughes 1).

In the 1920s, white Americans were discriminated against and viewed Black Americans as fewer humans as Hughes presents the aspect of historical equality in the poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers. The term soul in this poem symbolizes the black people, which is their identity (Bernath 10). Moreover, the term river shows that the subject in the poem belongs to a rootless, cosmopolitan identity that is very important, life-bringing, and divided but unified in the great sea (Bernath 11). The poet connects the soul and the river to show the continuous journey that African-Americans go through as they seek to establish their identity.

Indeed, the connection depicts the movement of the black people around the world, and the unifying experience of displacement where the Blacks belong to an endless and rootless world identity as seen in Euphrates—Western Asia, the Congo and the Nile—Africa, and Mississippi—North America (Bernath 11). Moreover, the speaker uses four great rivers to depict the historical journey of establishing African-American identity. He mentions that he bathed in the river Euphrates (Hughes 1) that is the motherland of human civilization according to numerous historians.

He also mentions that he built his hut near the river Congo (Hughes 1) that depicts the strength and success of various great African kingdoms. The speaker also claims that he looked upon the river Nile and the raised Egyptian pyramids (Hughes 1), which depicts his experience of the greatest architectural structures that Africans created. Ultimately, he asserts that he heard the singing of river Mississippi (Hughes 1) that relates to how African-Americans overcame American slavery as addressed by Abraham Lincoln (Bernath 12).

As such, the speaker in the poem speaks for all African Americans by establishing the historical journey of human civilization.