THE ***** SPEAKS OF RIVERS
I've known rivers
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
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 Mississipi 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.
2007-09-14 06:48:53 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Poetry
He's talking about his soul and about being a black man. It's about what black men have gone through, and the river is the unifying theme.
"I bathed in the Eurphrates when the dawns were young" - in the beginning, at the beginning of time, the black men were in Africa, and he's saying in his soul he remembers that and knows that
"I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep" and "I looked upon the Nile" are the same thing - different times in black history (or, in his history, if you think of reincarnation), the rivers were there
"I heard the singing of the Mississipi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset." - Wheh the black men were brought to America, they were slaves along the mississippi, and when Abraham LIncoln came, they were set free again, and the river was still important.
Rivers are deep, and never ending - they flow into the ocean - they are ancient, and they are as important to him as a black man as the blood in his veins. He remembers those rivers in his soul, and his soul "grows deep" like those rivers - - those memories and the history his race has is deep and ancient and it's part of who he is.
2007-09-14 07:00:12 · answer #1 · answered by lisa w 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Rivers, throughout history have been the major means of transportation. Civilization grew up along the rivers, they brought wondrous things to the lesser developed peoples of Africa. They ALSO served as the means to capture, enslave and transport the ****** into slavery throughout the world over the many ages of that terrible institution. The ALSO served as the major escape routs for the escaped slaves and as the way ot for the freed slaves from the civil war.
Hughes is speaking of ALL of this as he recounts his recollections of rivers.
BB,
Raji the Green Witch
2007-09-14 13:15:42 · answer #2 · answered by Raji the Green Witch 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The caption gives it away..."THE ***** SPEAKS OF RIVERS"...he speaks for the negroes through history.
It is on behalf of all black men of history that he says, "I've known rivers ancient as the world".
Obviously the famous "bus-boy poet" Langston Hughes had not personally "looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it".
2007-09-14 10:00:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This poem is not about him "physically" exploring these rivers in my opinoin Hughes is using rivers as a metaphor to describe his connection with his ancestory. Notice how he begins by stating the rivers are "older" than human existence he is off the back connecting with the rivers as though they are alive. After personifying the rivers he proceeds to explore them "I___" the river its not HIM who has done it but it is the people he most identify with who has done those things. The ***** Speaks of Rivers is a poem about acknowledging the "depths" of ones roots the history the diversity and the relatinship that he has forged with his past has made him more "LIKE the rivers" ... hope that analysis helps.
2007-09-14 07:01:08 · answer #4 · answered by foolproofdiva 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The basic point is that slavery (whether literal or through dire economic hardship and outright racism), which we like to think of as a thing of the past, is still very present in our society today. He juxtaposes images of ancient times with more modern references, demonstrating that the problem of racism continues to persist.
2016-04-04 20:46:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
well it says , that this man is a flying spirit ,mthat ,, only he can be the barrier of this knoledge , but he wants to say that when he is nnear a river he is bonded wiht it so stronly , and he knows like the river tell s him his story , and how old is the river , he feels one wiht hte river , he also explains that he has been to , greece , to afrika, to egypt, to us , caseu he has passed from all this river and also his fellow firneds , that shares whith him all this experiencce . i tel you man this is some poem ... hope i can helpo ,
2007-09-14 08:49:26 · answer #6 · answered by zeus z 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He's referring to collective experience of all people, passing of experiences of one generation to the next, flowing from one generation to the next like a river. Like a river brings life to the area surrounding it so too does shared experience bring a fullness of life to all who are touched by it.
2007-09-14 06:59:31 · answer #7 · answered by Den_Rode_Bjornen_Losener 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Google his name or the title of the poem and you might get up something about him interpreting the poem, that'll get you your A+!!!! or just steal other peoples ideas off the net!!
have fun!
2007-09-14 06:53:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Thankyou! Extremely valuable information and it gives me better insight on this topic
2016-08-24 15:56:40 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
he's talking about impact african people had on human culture and history, and how it all reflects on his self identity
2007-09-14 06:55:58 · answer #10 · answered by tricky 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋