My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built 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 I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Interpretation of Poem:
As I read out loud “The Negro Speaks of River” I visualize that the first part of the poem where it states “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and the older than the flow of human blood in human veins”. I see that in this statement he points out the rivers as symbolizing human life that are linking to mankind. Also, I believe that this poem signifies of what humans, such as, African Americans, had to experience between the past and present during the time of the civil war. I believe the imagery within the first paragraph in the poem is “River” and “Human”.
During the part where Langston states “My soul has grown deep like the rivers”. I see that he makes the same statement at the ending of the poem.
I believe what Langston is stating, is how humans of the African American cultural are linked by blood, and all of them are made as God’s children.
Video View: (Langston Hughes- “The Negro Speaks of River”- 1921) After hearing the poem of “TNSOR” I was able to see a different interpretation. It seem that Langston had more of an emotional reaction when it came to explaining the story tell of the time of what the African American people within his poem. It was more of explaining the freedom and enslavement of what Hughes people had to endure, that demonstrates the type of wisdom and strength his people had to build up to go through the suffering they experience.
The Essay on Langston Hughes African American
... the new history of African Americans along the Mississippi. The rivers represent a timelessness that speaks through the soul of the black man. ... jazz and the blues upon Langston Hughes manifested itself in "The Weary Blues." Hughes wrote the poem to be played to music ... timelessness. He likens the flow of the river to "the flow of human blood in human veins", personifying its essence. With "The Negro ...
