The Negro Speakes of Rivers
Langston Hughes 1902 (Joplin) – 1967 (New York City)
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
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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Submitted on February 11, 2022
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 302 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | Axx A xxxxxx Aa A |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 563 |
Words | 117 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 1, 6, 2, 1 |
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"The Negro Speakes of Rivers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/120110/the-negro-speakes-of-rivers>.
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