The Negro Speaks of Rivers

The tenth poem in our series is "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes. We read this poem in class on Monday, November 8. In addition to having two students read this poem aloud as we usually do, a third student read the poem while Ms. Miller showed the class E.B. Lewis's illustrated version of the poem. This was a big hit with the class!

You can read Mr. Hughes's biography on poets.org by clicking here. You can also visit the poem on poets.org by clicking on the poem title (below) and even listen to Mr. Hughes read the poem!

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

by 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.

We borrowed this illustrated edition of the poem from the Belser-Parton Literacy Center at the University of Alabama. The BPLC is a community lending library that is open to everyone. They have lots of great resources for educators, including classroom sets of young adult novels that can be borrowed.

You can purchase a copy of this book on amazon.com.