"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes Reflection

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.

I liked this poem with how it surprised me, because it wasn't completely about what I had been expecting. This poem is written from the first person point of view, which makes it seem personal and sounds like it is coming directly from the author, because it uses "I" many times. This focus on self also tells us that the speaker is conscious of their own self, but still connects to the past and to a larger culture, because their soul is like a river. The speaker also says that their soul is "deep" like a river. A river becomes deep over time. It slowly works its way into the earth and wears it away to become deeper and deeper. His soul has become the same, wearing away and becoming older. Rivers are also a means of connecting. He is connected to the past and to his ancestors. We know he has not actually built the pyramids, as the poem includes different time periods too far apart for a person to survive, but he feels as if he did. It is a connection to his ancestors and their culture's accomplishments. He mentions four rivers: three are in Africa and one is in the USA. He mentions how the Mississippi "sings" when Abe comes down to New Orleans. The river is happy specifically to see Abe, the white man. The river belongs to him, because it is a part of Abe's past. It connects Abe to his ancestors, but it doesn't connect the speaker to his. It emphasizes the speaker being in a foreign land where he has no past. But the rivers in Africa are a part of the speaker's past. And even though the Mississippi isn't his river, he will make it deeper by connecting his past and creating something new. It's about becoming something new without losing sight of where you came from and understanding how your past shapes you.