Langston Hughes

It was on this day 41 years ago that Langston Hughes died. Hughes was known as probably the most famous writer to come out of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes' work has included poems like; The Negro Speaks of Rivers, A Dream Deferred, and My People. Hughes also wrote many novels such as; The Ways of White Folks, Sweet Flypaper of Life, Tambourines to Glory, and Simple's Uncle Sam. He also wrote with Zora Neale Hurston, Mule Bone towards the end of the Harlem Renaissance in 1931. The Negro Speaks of Rivers is possibly his most famous poem, and it symbolizes the Harlem Renaissance because it speaks wonders about people's roots and heritage. "My soul has grown deep like the rivers" shows Hughes' search for his identity. It begins with the beginning of man and goes through the Civil War era. The poem doesn't just speak for African Americans, but it speaks for all people of all colors instead.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers----http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15722
Langston Hughes

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.