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| omnipoetics:the_negro_speaks_of_rivers [2025/03/04 21:54] – [Langston Hughes (1901 - 1967)] mary | omnipoetics:the_negro_speaks_of_rivers [2025/04/24 00:56] (current) – holly |
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| | //Serpent and the Fire// (pp. 374-375) |
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| ====== The Negro Speaks of Rivers ====== | ====== The Negro Speaks of Rivers ====== |
| Published by Langston Hughes in 1921. | Published by Langston Hughes in 1921. |
| {{:omnipoetics:langston-hughes.webp?250 |Langston Hughes as a Young Man from https://lengthofthegrand.com/2017/09/08/on-langston-hughes-van-morrison-and-writing/}} | {{:omnipoetics:langston-hughes.webp?250 |Langston Hughes as a Young Man from https://lengthofthegrand.com/2017/09/08/on-langston-hughes-van-morrison-and-writing/}} |
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| Born James Mercer Langston Hughes (1901-1967) in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes came from a family of mixed-ancestry and was the descendent of both enslaved and slave-holding great-grandparents. Moving between nearly six U.S. cities until his mother settled in Cleveland, Hughes’s early years were spent mostly in isolation. In order to combat such loneliness, Hughes turned to writing, stating that “I began to believe in nothing but books and the wonderful world in books–where if people suffered, they suffered in beautiful language, not in monosyllables, as we did in Kansas” (( “Langston Hughes.” //History.com//, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/langston-hughes)). Shortly after graduating high school, Hughes traveled to Mexico live with his father. It was on this trip that Hughes conceived of his first, and one of his most significant pieces, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” This poem was published in June of 1921 in //The Crisis// magazine. | Born James Mercer Langston Hughes (1901-1967) in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes came from a family of mixed-ancestry and was the descendent of both enslaved and slave-holding great-grandparents. Moving between nearly six U.S. cities until his mother settled in Cleveland, Hughes’s early years were spent mostly in isolation. In order to combat such loneliness, Hughes turned to writing, stating that “I began to believe in nothing but books and the wonderful world in books–where if people suffered, they suffered in beautiful language, not in monosyllables, as we did in Kansas” (( “Langston Hughes.” //History.com//, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/langston-hughes)). Shortly after graduating high school, Hughes traveled to Mexico to live with his father. It was on this trip that Hughes write one of his first, and one of his most significant pieces, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” This poem was published in June of 1921 in //The Crisis// magazine. |
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| While in Mexico, Hughes was persuaded by his father to attend college with a focus on engineering. With his tuition being provided for by his father, Hughes moved to New York where he attended Columbia University. It has often been cited that Hughes was among one of the first Black men to live in Columbia’s dormitory, but other scholars have suggested he actually took up lodgings at the local YMCA. Struggling possibly with the racism of Columbia’s institution, Hughes left behind his academic career, taking on odd jobs until signing aboard the //S. S. Malone// as a crewman. From here, Hughes traveled to Africa and Europe, visiting places such as “West Africa, the Azores, the Canary Islands, Holland, France, and Italy.” (( “Langston Hughes.” //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes )). Hughes lived for a short time in Paris, working as a doorman, before returning to the United States. | While in Mexico, Hughes was persuaded by his father to attend college with a focus in engineering. With his tuition being provided for by his father, Hughes moved to New York where he attended Columbia University. It has often been cited that Hughes was among one of the first Black men to live in Columbia’s dormitory, but other scholars have suggested he actually took up lodgings at the local YMCA. Struggling possibly with the racism of Columbia’s institution, Hughes left behind his academic career, taking on odd jobs until signing aboard the //S. S. Malone// as a crewman. From here, Hughes traveled to Africa and Europe, visiting places such as “West Africa, the Azores, the Canary Islands, Holland, France, and Italy.” (( “Langston Hughes.” //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes )). Hughes lived for a short time in Paris, working as a doorman, before returning to the United States. |
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| {{ :omnipoetics:langston_hughes1-scaled.jpg?400|Langston Hughes with sculpture from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Langston_Hughes.jpg}} | {{ :omnipoetics:langston_hughes1-scaled.jpg?400|Langston Hughes with sculpture from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Langston_Hughes.jpg}} |
| On his return, Hughes continued to write while pursuing various occupations to support himself. In 1924, he won first prize in the //Opportunity// magazine for his poem “The Weary Blues” and received a scholarship to attend Lincoln University. During his studies, Hughes met Carl Van Vechten, a novelist and critic, who helped Hughes publish his first book of poetry, //The Weary Blues//, in 1926. By 1929, Hughes had graduated from Lincoln University and shortly after published his first novel //Not Without Laughter//. This novel won the Harmon Gold medal for literature and granted Hughes with enough literary claim to pursue writing as his sole career. Scholars have often cited Hughes as one of the first African Americans to be able to live solely off his proceeds as a writer. | On his return, Hughes continued to write while pursuing various occupations to support himself. In 1924, he won first prize in the //Opportunity// magazine for his poem “The Weary Blues” and received a scholarship to attend Lincoln University. During his studies, Hughes met Carl Van Vechten, a novelist and critic, who helped Hughes publish his first book of poetry, //The Weary Blues//, in 1926. By 1929, Hughes had graduated from Lincoln University and published his first novel //Not Without Laughter//. This novel won the Harmon Gold medal for literature and granted Hughes with enough literary acclaim to pursue writing as his sole career. Scholars have often cited Hughes as one of the first African Americans to be able to live solely off his proceeds as a writer. |
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| Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Hughes became increasingly more interested in theatre, contributing to plays such as the //Mule Bone// with Zora Neal Hurston and the Broadway musical //Street Scene//. Hughes also traveled frequently during this period, sharing his poetry and lectures throughout the South and abroad in places like the Soviet Union, Japan, and Haiti. It was also during this time when Hughes published one of his most well-known and celebrated works titled “Harlem” in his collection //Montage of a Dream Deferred//. This poem inspired not only Lorrain Hansberry’s play //A Raisin in the Sun// but also appears in a number of speeches by Martin Luther King. | Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Hughes became increasingly more interested in theatre, contributing to plays such as the //Mule Bone// with Zora Neal Hurston and the Broadway musical //Street Scene//. Hughes also traveled frequently during this period, sharing his poetry and lectures throughout the South and abroad in places like the Soviet Union, Japan, and Haiti. It was also during this time when Hughes published one of his more well-known and celebrated works titled “Harlem” in his collection //Montage of a Dream Deferred//. This poem inspired not only Lorrain Hansberry’s play //A Raisin in the Sun// but also appears in a number of speeches by Martin Luther King. |
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| Towards the end of life, Hughes saw a decrease in popularity due to his political passivity. According to the Poetry Foundation, “It was Hughes’s belief in humanity and his hope for a world in which people could sanely and with understanding live together that led to his decline in popularity in the racially turbulent latter years of his life. Unlike younger and more militant writers, Hughes never lost his conviction that ‘//most// people are generally good, in every race and in every country where I have been.’” (( “Langston Hughes.” //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) | Towards the end of his life, Hughes fell into disfavor with some literary groups due to his political passivity. According to the Poetry Foundation, “It was Hughes’s belief in humanity and his hope for a world in which people could sanely and with understanding live together that led to his decline in popularity in the racially turbulent latter years of his life. Unlike younger and more militant writers, Hughes never lost his conviction that ‘//most// people are generally good, in every race and in every country where I have been.’” (( “Langston Hughes.” //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) |
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| Hughes passed away on May 22, 1967 due to complications from prostate cancer at the age of 66. His ashes were interred at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. Inscribed above his resting place are the lines from his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers." It reads: “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” | Hughes passed away on May 22, 1967 due to complications from prostate cancer at the age of 66. His ashes were interred at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. Inscribed above his resting place are lines from his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers." It reads: “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.” |
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| {{ :omnipoetics:1.jpg?430 |Langston Hughes's Monument in NY - close up - from https://rollofnickels.blogspot.com/2011/06/}} | {{ :omnipoetics:1.jpg?430 |Langston Hughes's Monument in NY - close up - from https://rollofnickels.blogspot.com/2011/06/}} |
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| *Each of these rivers are associated with a form of slavery. Enslaved peoples brought to the Americas via ships endured horrible conditions, and Howard Zinn points out that “Slaves often jumped overboard to drown rather than continue their suffering.” ((Zinn, Howard. //A People's History of the United States//, Harper Perennial, 2003, p. 29)) Moreover, the Euphrates River was mentioned in the //Bible// and may be associated with various slave songs. However, note that according to //A History of African American Poetry// by Lauri Ramey, "It is a misperception that these sung poems [slave songs] were all 'spiritual' in nature." ((Ramey, Lauri, //A History of African American Poetry//, Cambridge University Press, 2019, p. 61)) Lauri Ramey maintains that "Representing African survivals melded with the experience of the Middle Passage and plantation culture, the origins of slave songs date to the moment of kidnap in Africa." ((Ramey, Lauri, //A History of African American Poetry//, Cambridge University Press, 2019, p. 61)) | *Each of these rivers are associated with a form of slavery. Enslaved peoples brought to the Americas via ships endured horrible conditions, and Howard Zinn points out that “Slaves often jumped overboard to drown rather than continue their suffering.” ((Zinn, Howard. //A People's History of the United States//, Harper Perennial, 2003, p. 29)) Moreover, the Euphrates River was mentioned in the //Bible// and may be associated with various slave songs. In //A History of African American Poetry//, Lauri Ramey maintains that "Representing African survivals melded with the experience of the Middle Passage and plantation culture, the origins of slave songs date to the moment of kidnap in Africa." ((Ramey, Lauri, //A History of African American Poetry//, Cambridge University Press, 2019, p. 61)) However, if you are attempting to connect Hughes's poem to slave songs, please note that "It is a misperception that these sung poems [slave songs] were all 'spiritual' in nature." ((Ramey, Lauri, //A History of African American Poetry//, Cambridge University Press, 2019, p. 61)) |
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| __Free-Verse__ | __Free-Verse__ |
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| Hughes’s poem has no particular form as it uses neither rhyme nor a consistent line structure. It is entirely free-verse, drawing upon metaphor and repetition to convey its intention. The use of repetition acts as a refrain in the lines: “My soul has grown deep like the river” (lines 4, 12) (( Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” //The Serpent and the Fire//, edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Javier Taboada, University of California Press, 2024. )). This line functions as the overarching metaphor of the poem while the repetition of “I’ve known rivers” (( Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” //The Serpent and the Fire//, edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Javier Taboada, University of California Press, 2024. )) draws out this metaphor to specify its purpose by indicating various symbolic places and historical allusions (lines 1, 2, 10). | Hughes’s poem has no particular form as it uses neither rhyme nor a consistent line structure. It has generally been classified by critics as free-verse, drawing upon metaphor and repetition to convey its intention. The use of repetition acts as a refrain in the lines: “My soul has grown deep like the river” (lines 4, 12) (( Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” //The Serpent and the Fire//, edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Javier Taboada, University of California Press, 2024. )). This line functions as the overarching metaphor of the poem while the repetition of “I’ve known rivers” (( Hughes, Langston. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” //The Serpent and the Fire//, edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Javier Taboada, University of California Press, 2024. )) draws out this metaphor to specify its purpose by indicating various symbolic places and historical allusions (lines 1, 2, 10). |
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| In a video titled, “Langston Hughes Speaking at UCLA 2/16/1967” and uploaded by UCLA Irv and Xiaoyan Drasnin Communication Archive, Hughes speaks about “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and specifically comments on the form of the poem and his writing process. Below is a transcription (22:26-22:52) of a segment of the video: | In a video titled, “Langston Hughes Speaking at UCLA 2/16/1967” and uploaded by UCLA Irv and Xiaoyan Drasnin Communication Archive, Hughes speaks about “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and specifically comments on the form of the poem and his writing process. Below is a transcription (22:26-22:52) of a segment of the video: |
| ==== Langston Hughes's Contributions ==== | ==== Langston Hughes's Contributions ==== |
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| Langston Hughes was considered "a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance," (( "Langston Hughes." //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) known more specifically as "an influential poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, political commentator, and social activist"(( "Langston Hughes." //History.com//, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/langston-hughes. )) during this period. Through his writing, Hughes sought to reduce the often stereotypical and sentimental depictions of Black Americans in American literature by often writing from the perspective of working-class Blacks and their subsequent joys and hardships. Drawing upon jazz, blues and likewise Black vernacular, Hughes broke through the social barriers of what was considered "low-rate" art and harnessed it as inspiration for his writing, the likes of which can be found in his poem "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM7HSOwJw20|The Weary Blues]]." Hughes faced considerable critique from his contemporaries who viewed his writing as perpetuating the low forms of Black culture and art, while Hughes merely sought to record "faithfully the nuances of black life and its frustrations." (( "Langston Hughes." //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) In his own words, Hughes viewed his poetry as being about "workers, roustabouts,{{ :omnipoetics:c2c81015bed3847a865051e1868d230e9bdca2fb.jpeg?400|Langston Hughes-from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes}} and singers, and job hunters on Lenox Avenue in New York, or Seventh Street in Washington or South State in Chicago—people up today and down tomorrow, working this week and fired the next, beaten and baffled, but determined not to be wholly beaten, buying furniture on the installment plan, filling the house with roomers to help pay the rent, hoping to get a new suit for Easter—and pawning that suit before the Fourth of July." (( "Langston Hughes." //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) | Langston Hughes was considered "a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance," (( "Langston Hughes." //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) known more specifically as "an influential poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, political commentator, and social activist"(( "Langston Hughes." //History.com//, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/langston-hughes. )) during this period. Through his writing, Hughes sought to reduce the often stereotypical and sentimental depictions of Black Americans in American literature by writing from the perspective of working-class Blacks and their subsequent joys and hardships. Drawing upon jazz, blues and likewise Black vernacular, Hughes broke through the social barriers of what was considered "low-rate" art and harnessed it as inspiration for his writing, the likes of which can be found in his poem "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM7HSOwJw20|The Weary Blues]]." Hughes faced considerable critique from his contemporaries who viewed his writing as perpetuating the low forms of Black culture and art, while Hughes merely sought to record "faithfully the nuances of black life and its frustrations." (( "Langston Hughes." //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) In his own words, Hughes viewed his poetry as being about "workers, roustabouts,{{ :omnipoetics:c2c81015bed3847a865051e1868d230e9bdca2fb.jpeg?400|Langston Hughes-from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes}} and singers, and job hunters on Lenox Avenue in New York, or Seventh Street in Washington or South State in Chicago—people up today and down tomorrow, working this week and fired the next, beaten and baffled, but determined not to be wholly beaten, buying furniture on the installment plan, filling the house with roomers to help pay the rent, hoping to get a new suit for Easter—and pawning that suit before the Fourth of July." (( "Langston Hughes." //Poetry Foundation//, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/langston-hughes. )) |
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| Hughes has additionally been credited with making the movement more well-known through his poetry tours, even coining its current title in his autobiography //The Big Sea// (1940). | Hughes has additionally been credited with making the movement more well-known through his poetry tours, even coining its current title in his autobiography //The Big Sea// (1940). |
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| ====== Additional Resources ====== | |
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| | {{tag>English United_States Pan-African Free-Verse Harlem_Renaissance}} |
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