How can the voice of one individual represent or engulf the many hidden voices of a repressed people? Langston Hughes, a prominent figure in American literature captures at best, both the pride and plight of the African-American people at the turn of the twentieth century. He had written hundreds of literary pieces by the time of his death in May 1967; a few of those pieces were The Big Sea (1940), I Wonder as I Wander (1956), The Weary Blues (1926), and The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1921). One of his most famous poems, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, carries with it, embedded in its language and content, personal anguishalchemized by the poet, into a gracious meditation on his race (Arnold Rampersad, The Origins of Poetry in Langston Hughes, from The Southern Review 21, no.3 (July 1985).
The significance of this poem to me is the surge of inspiration Langston Hughes grasps as he associates The Rivers with the bridge between past and present. The speaker I, seems to be addressing an audience, perhaps himself, or herself. This persona makes a bold statement; Ive known Rivers. Why then, the concern with rivers? Traditionally, a river is a significant symbol of strength and ongoing beauty, a symbol of life, of transformation, continuation, but also depth and persistence.
The lines Ive known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood through human veins allow the reader to connect the seemingly abstract ideas of the opening statement, and clearly define the speakers intent. The Rivers are like veins in a human body. They are different in size and color, but absolutely necessary and more importantly, equal across time, space, as well as culture. The various stories of rivers are all common stories about humanity, humanity in its many forms, beauty and pain, growth and regress. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. Observing the flow of the river allows the speaker to connect with its inner nature, to absorb it and expand his or her understanding.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I build my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and Ive seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. These rivers, Euphrates, Congo, Nile, and Mississippi are powerful symbols of human achievement in both greatness and devastation. Four manus used to convey the depth and paradox of human existence. From the development of western civilization in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the old continent to the savagery and brutality in the new world seemingly built upon freedom and equality.
Ive known rivers: ancient, dusky rivers. In The Negro Speaks of Rivers Hughes is able to create a persona, the speaker, I, who approaches and understands the painful realities of both his ancestors and his peers, while staying consistent with the necessary spirit of hope for renewal in the present. The single and acute conscience, of the negro speaks through the simple yet complex use of figurative language, about intellectual growth and escapism through a train ride across the Mississippi River.
Works Cited
1) Hughes, Langston. The Negro Speaks of Rivers http://www.poets.org
2) Rampersad, Arnold. The Origins of Langston Hughes The Southern Review 21, no.3 pp.179-181 (July 1985) Louisiana State University
The Life of Langston Hughes, vol. 1
Oxford University Press, (1988)
3) The Langston Hughes Review, Vol. 5, no. 2, (fall, 1986) pp.34-40
Langston Hughes and His Critics on the Left
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