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Langston HughesA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” progresses through time and location, centering around four great rivers. The poem begins with the Euphrates, moves to the Congo and the Nile, and then ends with the Mississippi. Each river carries historical and geographic significance that informs the poem’s greater message.
The Euphrates River, in the area of the world now known as West Asia, is one of the world’s longest rivers and, along with the Tigris, played a role in establishing the earliest recorded human civilization. The waterways of the Euphrates (as well as the Nile) feed into the Fertile Crescent, so named for the irrigation and agriculture made possible by the water sources. The Crescent includes Mesopotamia, which in the ancient world was home to some of the earliest dynasties in human history, including the Sumerians and Akkadians. This is where human agriculture first began, facilitating an explosion of the human population over the last 10,000 years.
The poem then moves to the Congo River, which is among the most important in Africa, as it runs throughout the middle of the continent and has historically been the home and economic center of millions of people. The Congo has been a central uniting force for the Bantu peoples, who have traditionally lived along the river and in its surrounding areas.
By Langston Hughes
Children’s Rhymes
Langston Hughes
Cora Unashamed
Langston Hughes
Dreams
Langston Hughes
Harlem
Langston Hughes
I look at the world
Langston Hughes
I, Too
Langston Hughes
Let America Be America Again
Langston Hughes
Me and the Mule
Langston Hughes
Mother to Son
Langston Hughes
Mulatto
Langston Hughes
Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston
Not Without Laughter
Langston Hughes
Slave on the Block
Langston Hughes
Thank You, M'am
Langston Hughes
The Big Sea
Langston Hughes
Theme for English B
Langston Hughes
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain
Langston Hughes
The Ways of White Folks
Langston Hughes
The Weary Blues
Langston Hughes
Tired
Langston Hughes