Question

Access the tone and mood of the persona in Langston Hughes "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (300-500 words)

Answer 1

Here the speaker glorifies the black history and says that black people first started the movement of the civilization. The speaker shows his deep respect to the black people. In the poem The Negro speaks of River, the speaker says that Euphrates is the most ancient river and with the help of the water of this river the black people started cultivation and then the civilization began.

But in the present perspective the black people suffer a lot. He shows his deep concern to the suffering of the black people. They are victim of slavery and torture and their predicament is indescribable. With a deep respect he says that in every human being there is the flow of the black people. They gave the earth a shape and therefore there is the existence of the human beings. His mood is so heightened with the contribution of the black people and he meditates the long past when there were black people only.

In the poem the river is represented symbolically. The poet says that river is the symbol of the continuous flow and it never stops. It always serves the people and the plantation and agriculture is possible for only the rivers like Mississippi. Similarly, the black people also flow in every civilization and no community can ignore the contribution of the black people in life.   

In spite of their such contribution in shaping the human civilization, they are victim of slavery, slave trades, hunger, poverty and torture. With the help of history the speaker presents how these black people are cut from their culture and how they have lost their culture and community. He express his deep sorrow for the suffering of the black people.