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The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes

  About the Poet : James Mercer Langston Hughes  (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was a multifaceted literary figure, who was an eminent Black American poet, a social activist, novelist, playwright, and a radical columnist. He hailed from Joplin  Missouri . He is also regarded as one of the earliest proponents of the literary genre, known as jazz poetry . Hughes is best known as one of the prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance . Harlem, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Dreams, I, Too, are some of his notable work of poetry.   About the Poem : The poem was first published in 1921. According to Hughes, the poem was written while he was seventeen and on a train crossing the river, Mississippi  on the way to visit his father in Mexico  in 1920. It is also said that he wrote the poem within ten or fifteen minutes. Summary: In this poem the poet recounts his experience of observing ancient rivers . Rivers have played considerably huge role in the development of human civilization. S