showing the depth of a person's soul. It actually gave me the chills while reading it. It is

an intimate and personal piece. When I looked up the history of Hughes I felt even more

inspired. He was an African American man who was born in Mississippi in 1902. He

wrote this poem while he was a senior in High School. That is amazing! He became

involved in many racial issues fighting for his culture. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is

just one example of how tremendous of a man Langston Hughes really was. This poem

has deep historical and racial meaning.

The poem is written in first person, by Langston Hughes. Although I do not think

he is only speaking of himself, but on behalf of all African Americans. I think that he is

referring to his race and all of its generations. He is speaking to a general audience. I can

imagine that he is a handsome dark skinned man, wandering around l

throughout. The speaker does not change either. The language of the poem really makes

determination to end slavery was said to have started when, as a young man, he visited

followed by two unstressed. The style of the poem is free flowing. There is no rhyme

first line, "I've known rivers:" appears throughout the poem three times. Also the third

Some common words found in the essay are:
African Americans, Langston Hughes, African American, Congo River, United Lincoln's, Nile River, Beginning Euphrates, Speaks Rivers, Civil War, langston hughes, negro speaks, negro speaks rivers, Pharaohs Finally, speaks rivers, speaks rivers langston, throughout poem, i've rivers, dusky meaning, mississippi river, ancient dusky rivers, particular period, rivers ancient dusky, rivers ancient, rivers langston hughes, rivers langston,
Approximate Word count = 667
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)