The Negro Speaks of Rivers

The free-verse poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1921) is one of the first published works by American poet Langston Hughes. It uses the metaphor of rivers to explore Hughes’s depth of feeling about his life and the experience of African Americans. The poem also connects the African American soul to a series of eras, from the dawn of humanity to the modern day. Though the poem is short and structurally simple, it expresses an experiential depth and complexity—perseverance, wisdom, and a combined weariness and hopefulness.

Hughes is among the most famous and influential poets of the Harlem Renaissance—a literary movement among Black artists living in and around Harlem, New York, during the 1920s—and this poem is arguably his most famous work. It is a staple in the American poetry canon, and many critics regard it as one of the greatest poems of the 20th century.

Poet Biography

Langston Hughes (1901-1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri. He lived in Cleveland, Ohio, for most of his childhood, but he spent almost all of his adult life in Harlem, New York, where he would become a leading member of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most recognized poets of the era.

Hughes rose to fame with the publication of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1921) in the NAACP’s magazine The Crisis, and with the publication of his debut book of poetry, The Weary Blues (1926), which has become his most famous book of poems. In this volume and in most of his poetry after, Hughes embraced the sounds and cadences of blues and jazz, two burgeoning genres of African American music at the time; these “musical” elements gave his poetry a unique sound for the time period and contrasted him with some of his contemporary Black poets, like Countee Cullen, who wrote in traditional form.

Hughes never married nor had children. Some scholars believe he was gay or asexual, and they argue that some of his poetry hints at these orientations, though there is no decisive evidence either way. Politically, Hughes sympathized with socialism and even spent time in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and while he was never as politically active or radical as some of his contemporaries, he was called to testify before Joseph McCarthy’s congressional investigative committee in 1954, where he denied being a communist.

While Hughes is best known for his poetry, his writing was diverse and included a number of plays, novels, and nonfiction texts. He also edited a compilation of African American poetry. He died in 1967, leaving behind a monumental legacy as one of the most influential American poets of the 20th century.

Poem Text

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 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.

Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” 1921. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

The poem opens with the first-person speaker saying he has “known rivers” (Lines 1, 2) that are as old as the world and older than the dawn of humankind; these rivers have flowed for longer than human blood has flowed through human veins.

He then compares his soul to these rivers in terms of their depth, before listing the rivers he has known: He has bathed in the Euphrates River in Asia; he has built his hut and slept near the Congo River in Africa; he has known the Nile in Egypt, and he built the pyramids by it. Finally, he has known the Mississippi, where he saw US President Abraham Lincoln sail downriver on a steamboat. The speaker has also seen the water change colors in the setting sun, turning from a muddy hue to the gold of the sunset.

He then repeats that he has known the rivers, emphasizing how the rivers are old and dark. He finishes the poem by repeating that his soul has become “deep like the rivers” (Line 10) he has known.