Rivers of Life

Through the poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", Langston Hughes fosters verisimilitude by using allusions and first person to convey the hardships of a universal experience of oppression. When Hughes uses the pronoun "I" he demonstrates that he embodies the troubles and experience of a variety of people. It is apparent that a single person could not have lived to experience such a plethora of problems but because of the conviction Hughes speaks with, one is likely to sympathize with what he says. Hughes speaks of the troubles faced at Euphrates at the "dawn" of civilization all the way to the anguishes of the slaves in New Orleans at "sunset". The vast time between these events helps convey the message that human issues have been a recurrent problem. Just like one wizens with experience, Hughes's "soul has grown deep" with the pain and knowledge of what he has had to witness. Hughes various examples of hardships are presented like events in a day. This represents how, even though many people have had to endure the struggle, it is still noteworthy. A person "bathed", "built", "looked" and "heard" at what has been occurring around him. Eventually he has "known" or understood what is happening. He comes to a deeper understand with himself. He understands what these experiences mean to him, they are like a "dusky" river clouding his "flow of blood". But, he acknowledges that this experience is common. He encourages the audience to take action, now that we have endured and understood the societal pains.