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TheNegroSpeaksofRivers——LangstonHughesAuthoringEnvironmentLangstonHugheswroteTheNegroSpeaksofRiverswhileonatrainridetoMexico,wherehewouldlivewithhisfatherforoneyear.HehadjustgraduatedfromhighschoolinCleveland,Ohio,makinghimamereeighteenyearsold.WhenhistraincrossedtheMississippiRiver,HugheswasinspiredbyitsbeautyandwasalsoremindedofitsroleinsustainingslaveryinAmerica.Thesunwassetting,andHugheshadalongjourneyaheadofhim.Hetookoutaletterhisfatherhadwrittenhimandwrotethispoemonthebackofitspages.•AlyricPoem•Writtenfromthefirst-personperspective•Consistsofamerethirteenlinesoffreeverse•Doesnotemployasetrhymeschemeorstanzapattern•Featureparallelstructurewithinseverallinesaswellastwosimplephrasesthatactasarefrain,orarepeatedsectionsimilartoachorusinasongTheNegroSpeaksofRiversHughesusesthird-personpointofviewinthetitleandfirst-personpointofviewinthepoem.Inthetitle,Hughesannouncesthespeakerandtopicofthepoem.Thenheassumesthepersonaofthespeaker(representingtheNegroidrace)inpresentingthewordsofthepoem.I'veknownrivers:I'veknownriversancientastheworldandolderthantheflowofhumanbloodinhumanveins.Asimpledeclarationimpliesthenarrator'sexperienceandwisdom.Thiscomparisontieshumanitytotheoldestpartsofnatureandsuggeststhattheflowhumanlifeforceismuchliketheflowofariver.Theriversymbolizesthelinkageofallhumanlifefromtheearliesttimetothepresent.HughesassumesthepersonaoftheNegroidrace,asifthespeakerisachorusofallblackssincethebeginningofhumanlifeonearth.Mysoulhasgrowndeepliketherivers.Againthenarratorcomparesahumanattribute—thesoul—toariver.Thisimage,however,contrastswiththedescriptionofamovingriver.Atitsdeepestpoints,theflowofariverseemstoalmostcease;asitbecomesshallower,thewaterflowsmorequickly.IbathedintheEuphrateswhendawnswereyoungIbuiltmyhutneartheCongoanditlulledmetosleep.IlookedupontheNileandraisedthepyramidsaboveit.IheardthesingingoftheMississippiwhenAbeLincolnwentdowntoNewOrleans,andI'veseenitsmuddybosomturnallgoldeninthesunset.Thesearethenormalactivitiesofnaturalmanperformedinhisnaturalhabitat.Thatmaybeanunnecessarilyanthropologicalwayofputtingit,butthelinesaretheequivalentofthespeakerhavingsaid,ImademylifeundisturbedintheplacewhereIlived.Theshift--andthelesson--occurs.RaisingthepyramidsabovetheNilewastheactofslaves.AmericanslaveryandtheCivilWarHenamedriversthatrepresentthehistoryofWesternculture.I'veknownrivers:Ancient,duskyrivers.Mysoulhasgrowndeepliketherivers.suggestswisdomintheworddeep.•comparisonofspiritualdepthtophysicaldepth•comparisonofthechangeinthedepthofhissoultothechangeinthedepthofriversTheme•WisdomandExperienceTheNegroidraceisadeepfundofwisdomandexperienceaccumulatedsincethedawnofhumanexistence.•PrideBlackmenandwomenhaveaproudculturalhistoryandrecordofaccomplishmentagainstadversity.•PerseveranceInspiteofsufferinginflictedonthem,blackmenandwomenhaveenduredthroughtheages,nevergivingup.InterpretationRiversdeepentheirbedsbycuttingchannelsthroughearthandrock.Blackmenandwomendeepentheirknowledge,wisdomandcharacterbyperseveringthroughtrialsandtribulations.Theirexperiencesbuildacollectiveconsciousnessthatflows,likeariver,fromonegenerationtothenext.InHughes'spoem,ablackmanoftheearlytwentiethcentury—actingasspeakerfortheNegroidrace—tellsthereaderthathehasinheritedthiscollectiveconsciousnessfromhisforebearsinAsia,Africa,andNorthAmerica.Inhismind'seye,heseesnotonlythesufferingenduredbyblacksoverthecenturiesbutalsotheirtriumphoveroppression.