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December 7th, 2009 - we have 234 poets, 8,023 poems and 18,092 comments.
Analysis and comments on The Negro Speaks Of Rivers by Langston Hughes

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Comment 30 of 30, added on November 3rd, 2009 at 2:55 AM.

Hughes was an outstanding writer. The metaphors that he uses in this poem
bring such a profound connection to the past. Its just so moving! Even
though this poem was one of the first that written by him I think that it
was the most inspiring in that it has the ablitiy to captivate and spark a
readers imagination and emotions!

Monique Johnson from United States
Comment 29 of 30, added on April 7th, 2009 at 8:43 PM.

i think this poem is marvelous hughes does a fabulous job of showing how
all people are connected by the speaker saying he bathed in the euphrates
he is saying he was there in the beginning of time and this poem touches
the heart because even though we may look different we are all the same
people related by blood and by god ..

Shelley from United States
Comment 28 of 30, added on February 18th, 2009 at 6:36 PM.

I think the this poem is talking how how wfrican american's had to
sturggle. I think he means that he was a slave and was on a slave boat and
he had seen and have been acrossed many river's. It mean's thet he ha
travled in many river's all over the world.i think it is about the places
ha have been every since he was young untill he got older.

Tanisha from United States
Comment 27 of 30, added on April 22nd, 2007 at 5:10 PM.

hey. i have a school report to write and i just wanted to know the
connection between "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes and
"Much Madness Is Divinest Sense" by Emily Dickinson.

Melanie from United States
Comment 26 of 30, added on March 28th, 2007 at 10:27 AM.

wow! what a beautiful poem...just wants to make me smile!! it also touches
the heart

Haylee from United States
Comment 25 of 30, added on February 27th, 2007 at 5:19 AM.

The poem holds a lot in its simplified lines which is perhaps open only for
rumination and not layman interpretation.

Ankit Tejpal from India
Comment 24 of 30, added on July 31st, 2006 at 1:01 PM.

I love this poem.Ive read it many times and i suddeenly realize maybe why
Hughes used a river to express his ideas .There are many rivers with
different names and they are located all around the world. However, they
all dump into the ocean becoming one, so that they are no longer seperate
but together.I know this poems is about African Americans struggle through
time and their journey.But I also feel Hughes is urging us to come together
just as rivers do.We may be different colors, and come from diff.
backgrounds but at the core we are all the same.

Lauren from United States
Comment 23 of 30, added on April 29th, 2006 at 11:04 AM.

reading this peom made me cry because it is so deep and very inspiring it
is the best poem eva. LOVE IT !!

nabilah from United States
Comment 22 of 30, added on March 23rd, 2006 at 11:55 AM.

I think that Hughes is thrying to say that African Americans have been here
for along time they were not made yesterday. Because this poem was written
buring the Harlem Renaissance and prior to that people thought all black s
were stupit and this peom is saying we are brilliant that blacks are smart.
Thats why Hughes talks about the pyramids and the Nile river in Africa
because those were some of the greatest societeis ever

Henry Grant from United States
Comment 21 of 30, added on March 11th, 2006 at 10:44 PM.

I have a comment to add...
I have to agree with others that this poem covers the history of the black
culture. But, the two lines "I looked upon the Nile" and "I heard the
singing of the Mississippi" are both seeming to refer to similar events. in
both situations, they were slaves, dark skinned property, and they were
brought to freedom by people not of their kind. Moses brought the Egyptian
slaves to freedom, and Abraham Lincoln brought the American slaves to
freedom. in both cases there was a struggle for some years afterward....the
two lines "I bathed in the Euphrates" and "I built my hut near the Congo"
are both seemingly talking about freedom...let me know what ya'll think
about this (obviously i'm from texas!)
-Robert

Robert from United States

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Information about The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

Poet: Langston Hughes
Poem: The Negro Speaks Of Rivers
Added: Feb 20 2003
Viewed: 53883 times
Poem of the Day: Oct 19 2005


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