Critical Comment on ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ by Langston Hughes
The poem, ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers’ is written by African-American poet Langston Hughes.
Through this paper, I shall critically comment on various aspects of the poem such as the rhyme
scheme, tone, structure and theme of the poem and I shall also comment on the historical and
biographical relevance to the poem.
The structure of the poem is rather interesting. The lines of the poem follow a short and long
pattern, making it look like the meanders of an actual river. The stanzas have no fixed size,
consisting mostly of long lines. There is no apparent rhyme scheme. The poem seems to be in
free verse.
The poem’s tone is that of spirituality and ethnic pride of the speaker. This is evident in the line,
‘My soul has grown deep like the rivers.’ which shows that the speaker of the poem is comparing
his soul to the depths of the rivers and seems to have reached a level of self-realisation. The rich
historical facts that the poet has written about bring forth the sense of pride the speaker has in
his/her ethnicity and culture.
Langston Hughes wrote this poem when he was travelling by the Mississippi river. He thought of
how the African-Americans had a deep connection with rivers throughout their history and this
inspired him to write the poem.
The first and second stanza of the poem show the age-old relationship of the speaker with the
rivers. The third stanza talks about the various events in history in which the African-Americans
actively participated and witnessed. The fourth and fifth stanzas again deal with the speaker’s
relationship with rivers. Most of the lines in the poem begin with words such as ‘I’ or ‘My’ or
‘I’ve’. The use of these words gives the poem a very personal feel. The use of repetition as a
linguistic feature shows the deliberate emphasis on the fact that the speaker has ‘known rivers’.
Langston Hughes is trying to show the journey of the African-Americans from a rich civilisation
in Africa to being forced into slavery in America through their connection with rivers from both
lands. He also seems to try to show the world that the African-Americans have a very impressive
legacy and that they were present during great events in the history of the African continent as
well as in America.