302:, was ongoing. William Hogan, a scholar, places Hughes's poem in the context of this vast uprooting of population, noting that it "recognizes the need for a new kind of rootedness, one that embraced a history of migration and resettlement. Hogan argues that by connecting "communities of color across both space and time", Hughes is developing "a theory of racial community" which draws strength from migration and change. The "many 'routes' historically taken by black culture only strengthen the 'roots' of the community".
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considered the poem to be one of Hughes's best works, and it has been described as his "signature" poem. However, it has also been described as one of his "most uncharacteristic poems". The work is one of his most famous poems. The professor Ira
Dworkin described the poem as "an iconic representative
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The scholar Allan Burns feels that the poem is written from the perspective of a "'soul' or 'consciousness' of black people in general" rather than Hughes himself. Burns also notes the progression of rivers through the poem from the
Euphrates to the Mississippi follows a chronology of history "from
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The poem utilizes a river as a metaphor for Hughes's life and the broader
African-American experience. It does not rhyme and uses lines, particularly repetition of "My soul has grown deep like the rivers” to say that, according to the professor Christopher C. De Santis, "experience and history,
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of 1919, when numerous blacks were attacked and killed by whites. Miller notes that Hughes was probably intimidated as he traveled by himself to visit his father in Mexico, passing through Texas, where numerous lynchings occurred. Miller goes on to argue that Hughes used the poem to provide
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magazine, in June 1921, starting Hughes's literary career. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" uses rivers as a metaphor for Hughes's life and the broader
African-American experience. It has been reprinted often and is considered one of Hughes's most famous and signature works.
964:"Dances of Sorrow, Dances of Hope : The work of Pearl Primus finds a natural place in a special program of historic modern dances for women. Primus' 1943 work 'Strange Fruit' leaped over the boundaries of what was then considered 'black dance'"
332:("Speaks"), the actual text focuses on the past ("I've"). Miller feels that this shows Hughes defining rivers as "part of a natural realm needing to be reclaimed as a site that African Americans have known and should now know."
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though often oppressive, have not extinguished but rather emboldened the development of a soul, the birth of an immortal self, the proud 'I' that now speaks to all who will listen." That line also alludes to
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and editorials that Du Bois wrote. One of Hughes's most reprinted works, the poem had been reprinted at least 11 times within a decade of its first publication, including in the 1925 anthology
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178:) and said "What colored person is there, do you suppose, in the United States who writes like that and yet is unknown to us?" She found out who Hughes was and the poem was published.
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to modern
America." By describing the "muddy bosom" of the river turning "golden in the sunset", Hughes provides a note of hope that Burns equates to the phrase
252:"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is one of Hughes's earliest poems and is considered to mark the beginning of his career as a poet. Sandra Merriweather in the
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Hughes said that the poem was written in about "ten or fifteen minutes" on "the back of an envelope" he had when he was 17 years old and was crossing the
803:
Encyclopedia of
African-American writing: five centuries of contribution : trials & triumphs of writers, poets, publications and organizations
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Miller, W. Jason (Spring 2004). "Justice, Lynching, and
American Riverscapes: Finding reassurance in Langston Hughes's "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"".
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261:." Upon publication, it "delighted black traditionalists", who appreciated the poem's message. Hughes's poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", "
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reassurance "that because others have survived, he and his readers can survive too." Although the poem is titled with a verb in the
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Twenty years after its publication, Hughes suggested the poem be turned into a
Hollywood film, but the project never went forward.
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was responsible for the initial acceptance and publication of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". Fauset wrote in a review of
776:. African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 203–223.
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work, noting that Hughes lived during an era where he would have been impacted by lynchings, particularly after the
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Dworkin, Ira (2017). "Near the Congo: Langston Hughes and the
Geopolitics of Internationalist Poetry".
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In his early writing, including "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", Hughes was inspired by
American poet
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The poem has been cited as becoming "the voice of the Association itself," along with "
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Hughes, (James Mercer) Langston 2/1/1902--5/22/1967 (2018). In S. D. Hatch (ed.),
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in 1917. Several years after graduating high school, Hughes decided to travel to
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Merriweather, S. (2001). "The Negro speaks of rivers". In E. L. Haralson (ed.),
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Encyclopedia of American ethnic literature: Encyclopedia of American literature
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Congo Love Song: African American Culture and the Crisis of the Colonial State
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in 1903. Hughes dedicated the whole poem to Du Bois when he republished it in
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The Poems (We Think) We Know: 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' by Langston Hughes
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that was inspired by "The Negro Speaks of Rivers". The cosmogram is entitled
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Hughes's ashes are interred under a cosmogram medallion in the foyer of the
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on the way to visit his father in Mexico. The poem was first published in
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195: flow of human blood in human veins.
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and live with his father, whom he did not know well. He left in 1920.
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From DuBois to Van Vechten: The Early New Negro Literature, 1903–1926
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upon its publication that after she read the poem, she brought it to
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Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University
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De Santis, C.C. (2013). "The Negro speaks of rivers" In I. Manly,
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After Hughes died on May 22, 1967, his ashes were interred in the
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234: bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
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434:, a dance choreographer, developed a work based on the poem.
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Deep River: Music and Memory in Harlem Renaissance Thought
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I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
128:, Ohio, where he first began writing. He graduated from
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Encyclopedia of American poetry: the twentieth century
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The scholar W. Jason Miller considers the poem was an
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in June 1921, and was later collected into the 1926
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870:, University of Illinois Press, p. 142,
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818:. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1992.
228: went down to
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343:argues that part of the poem reinterprets
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917:"Langston Hughes | Biography & Facts"
654:Langston Hughes: Before and Beyond Harlem
996:and its writing], from Langston Hughes,
509:Socarides, Alexandra (August 1, 2013). "
271:Encyclopedia of African-American Writing
242:My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
591:. (3rd ed.). . New York: Facts On File.
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198:My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
895:, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing,
631:. Duke University Press. p. 170.
625:Anderson, Paul Allen (July 19, 2001).
535:The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
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704:Thematic guide to American poetry
217:and raised the pyramids above it.
162:, who was the literary editor of
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294:Hughes wrote the poem while the
1017:On "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
532:Hughes, James Langston (1994).
273:as "anthems of black America".
254:Encyclopedia of American Poetry
90:" is a poem by American writer
82:Langston Hughes in 1919 or 1920
962:Gere, David (April 24, 1994).
561:""The Negro Speaks of Rivers""
559:Hughes, Langston (June 1921).
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998:The Big Sea: An Autobiography
992:The Big Sea: An Autobiography
868:Langston Hughes and the Blues
601:Fauset, Jessie (March 1926).
124:. He attended high school in
1111:Let America be America Again
519:. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
1166:Montage of a Dream Deferred
1104:Come to the Waldorf Astoria
994:'The Negro Speaks of Rivers
949:The New York Public Library
866:Tracy, Steven Carl (2001),
656:, New York: Citadel Press,
516:Los Angeles Review of Books
219:I heard the singing of the
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1252:The Sweet Flypaper of Life
1118:Note on Commercial Theatre
1069:The Negro Speaks of Rivers
1005:The Negro Speaks of Rivers
849:The Langston Hughes Review
452:"Hughes, (James) Langston"
211:and it lulled me to sleep.
88:The Negro Speaks of Rivers
25:The Negro Speaks of Rivers
1343:Poetry by Langston Hughes
1019:at Modern American Poetry
232:, and I've seen its muddy
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604:The Weary Blues (review)
269:" were described in the
207:I built my hut near the
1333:African-American poetry
1307:Langston Hughes Society
1158:The Ways of White Folks
1150:Fine Clothes to the Jew
921:Encyclopedia Britannica
742:. Infobase Publishing.
284:The Souls of Black Folk
16:Poem by Langston Hughes
1295:Charles Henry Langston
1289:Carrie Langston Hughes
1011:60th Anniversary Issue
891:Ikonné, Chidi (1981),
736:Bloom, Harold (2008).
689:. . London: Routledge.
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248:Reception and analysis
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239:Ancient, dusky rivers.
205:when dawns were young.
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1161:(short stories, 1934)
702:Burns, Allan (2002).
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341:Rachel Blau DuPlessis
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1244:Not Without Laughter
1209:Tambourines to Glory
424:and was designed by
160:Jessie Redmon Fauset
706:. Greenwood Press.
313:per aspera ad astra
130:Central High School
416:in Harlem under a
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213:I looked upon the
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174:(the publisher of
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41:First published in
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388:Jean Toomer
230:New Orleans
225:Abe Lincoln
221:Mississippi
164:The Crisis,
158:. The poet
134:Mexico City
1328:1921 poems
1322:Categories
1009:The Crisis
568:The Crisis
438:References
409:in 1932.
353:Deep River
325:Red Summer
176:The Crisis
151:The Crisis
113:Background
105:The Crisis
61:Subject(s)
46:The Crisis
1185:Mule Bone
538:. Knopf.
483:cleveland
418:cosmogram
349:spiritual
203:Euphrates
126:Cleveland
72:June 1921
1291:(mother)
1134:" (1955)
1127:" (1951)
1120:" (1940)
1113:" (1938)
1106:" (1931)
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