Langston Hughes: "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

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.

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Clearly this poem is about Negro heritage and history: the Euphrates River in the Middle East--Babylon was built on its banks.

The Congo and the Nile Rivers flow through Africa; the former in particular goes right through what was the kingdom of the Kongo; a thriving and

important kingdom ravaged by the European slave trade while the latter reminds the readers of the accomplishments of the Egyptian people.   The Mississippi River of course references slave states and was, in a way, a dividing line between

slave and free states (when viewed in terms of east/west; not north/south). 

Imagery is present when describing the Mississippi ("muddy" and "golden").  Hughes also uses a simile when comparing his soul to the rivers; furthermore repetition is employed 

by repeating that simile: his soul is old, long, and holds many secrets. 

I chose this poem because I like geography and I like how Hughes takes us from the Middle East through into Africa and then into the US. Geography is taken for granted

in the US and overall Americans are too arrogant (or ignorant) to find value in places outside of the 50 states.  Can you identify the the rivers that Hughes has known on a map? And why should you care?

I also think it's important that one understand that African-American history does not begin in the United States--African history is, to quote Hughes, "ancient as the world" and should not be neglected when learning about or reflecting upon

Negro heritage and history.