Introduction
Throughout the centuries black people fought for their rights and freedoms trying to prove that they were worth being equal with the whites. The topic of oppression of black people has always been of great interest to poets and writers this is why a lot of present-day poems, short stories, novels, and other pieces of writing present the life of African-American people who over the years suffered from being treated extremely unfairly and very often brutally and violently by white people.
The three poems were written by Langston Hughes, namely “Negro Speaking of the Rivers”, “Democracy” and “The Negro Mother” show the depth of black people’s sufferings and the immensity of their desire to obtain freedom and equality in rights with the white people. In them, Langston Hughes expresses faithfulness and devotion to his people as well as pride in how bravely black people fought for their freedom.
Three poems, even when written by the same person cannot be all alike and to find out structural and sense differences and similarities between “Negro Speaking of the Rivers”, “Democracy” and “The Negro Mother” it is necessary to analyze each of them first.
“Negro Speaking of the Rivers”
The first to analyze will be “Negro Speaking of the Rivers”. The poem was written in 1920 and it is devoted to all African-American people. In this poem, Langston Hughes represents himself as a “Negro” who is laying out suffering of black people in the lines of the poem. The theme of the poem is to show how much African-American people have gone through when being oppressed in the period of racial discrimination. Almost in each line the repetition of the pronoun “I” can be observed. The main function of any repetition is to turn attention to a specific notion or idea.
In the case with “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” Langston Hughes speaks in the name of all African-American people and “I” is used as a generalization for each of them. Each repetition of this pronoun expresses the desire of the poet to remind once again about the tragic experience of his people. The poet’s wisdom and deep knowledge of the history of African-American people is expressed in the lines “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the/ flow of human blood in human veins” (Arnold Rampersad, Hilary Herbold 73).
These lines also serve as a connection of the present with the long period of time during which African-American people fought for their rights. The poem also contains a brief flashback to the times of American Civil War: ”I heard singing of Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to/New Orleans” (Arnold Rampersad, Hilary Herbold 73). It is used to remind of Abraham Lincoln’s fight with slavery, the fight which demanded numerous victims but which ended up successfully with abolishment of slavery once and for all.
The river is the embodiment of the poet’s vast experience and “My soul has grown deep like the rivers” (Arnold Rampersad, Hilary Herbold 73) shows that throughout his life the poet met a number of obstacles each of which contributed to his gaining of experience. This line also lays emphasis on the significance of the life of every African-American.
Different stylistic devices can be observed throughout the poem. It abounds with comparisons and similes like “ancient as the world“ (Arnold Rampersad, Hilary Herbold 73) which is used to show the vastness of the poet’s knowledge and experience; the same goes for the “soul” “deep as the rivers” which not only shows how much the poet has gone through in his life but how significant the mark the tragic events left in his soul is; a personification “young dawns” shows that the poet describes the events of the far past but which he still remembers very vividly; another personification, “singing of Mississippi” is used to remind of those glorious times when Lincoln put an end to slavery; and finally, in “I’ve known rivers:/ Ancient, dusky rivers” (Arnold Rampersad, Hilary Herbold 73) the epithets “ancient” and “dusky” show that Hughes’ life was full of grief, sorrow and sufferings.
The poem is written in a free prose style and its form is free; the set rhyme scheme is not employed in it but a number of parallel structures make it resemble a chorus of a song. The language it is written in is casual but at the same time dignified which proves that the poet took pride in his people and their fighting for liberation. Representation of the four greatest rivers of the world speaks of the meaning of each of them to the history of the poet’s culture. The poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” unites and connects all African people and their descendants.
“Democracy”
Second to consider is another poem by Langston Hughes called “Democracy”. In this busy and cruel world it is often the case that people forget about each other and become preoccupied only with their own problems and thus get desensitized. “Democracy” returns those who got lost in hardness of every day life to the state of compassion and understanding as it penetrates each cell of the body reminding of those times when black people were treated differently only because of their skin color.
In 1900s democracy was unknown to the Unites States and black people were extremely limited in their rights and freedoms. Langston Hughes was a black himself and this, as well as insult, offence and resentment, can be easily felt throughout the poem “Democracy”. The theme of the poem is to prove that black people are also humans and deserve the same treatment as the white ones: “I live here, too. /I want freedom/ Just as you” (Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad 199) and that in fight for democratic society black people also have a right to demand it.
These lines contain so much sorrow and offence but at the same time they sound like words of a worthy person who does not only demand equal right with the others but is ready to fight to death for this rights if it is what it is going to take. Unlike the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” the language “Democracy” is written in is more strict, demanding and concrete. “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” contains a lot of hidden meanings but “Democracy” openly reveals what the poet wants to say “I have as much right/As the other fellow has” and “I want freedom/ Just as you” (Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad, 200).
“Democracy” is written in an open form and it consists of four stanzas each of them having different number of lines. “Democracy”, like “Negro Speaks of Rivers” is written in a free style, though it is more organized and most of the lines rhyme following one and the same pattern. Some of the lines in “Democracy” are negative, such as “I do not need my freedom when I’m dead. /I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread” (Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad 200) and “Democracy will not come” (Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad 199) which shows how determined the poet is in his desire to prove the worthiness of black people and their right to be free and equal with the others: “Just as you” (Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad 200).
The lines “Let things take their course. /Tomorrow is another day” (Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad 200) show that the poet does not believe the promises and is very impatient in his getting the freedom. Moreover, certain graphic means, namely, writing these lines in italics, show that the poet wanted to express his indignation and to emphasize the importance of these words.
The same repetition of the pronoun “I” in the meaning of “we” as in “Negro Speaks of Rivers” can be observed in “Democracy”. It possesses the same meaning of the poet’s portraying himself as a representative of black people. “Democracy” is a poetic protest and in it Langston Hughes succeeded in expressing his negative opinion about democracy and such opinion of his is justified as the society he lived back then was racist.
“The Negro Mother”
And, final to analyze is Langston Hughes’ poem “The Negro Mother”. This poem is less famous than the other two analyzed above but it is even deeper and more impressive. It reflects the life of black people before they were freed and discloses their immense desire to be liberated as well as their readiness to struggle for their freedom. Unlike “Negro Speaks of Rivers””and “Democracy” this poem is written on the part of a woman and completely from her point of view. Nevertheless, Hughes did not break the tradition and made this woman, the mother, a representative of the whole black nation which gave to the poem even more sadness and persuasiveness.
The repetition of the pronoun “I” can be observed in this poem as well but in “The Negro Mother” this repetition means not only speaking for black community but speaking for all mothers as well. Partly, this is the poet’s turning to white people, but mostly, it is a black woman’s turning to black community calling them to be faithful to their culture and to remember about those times when their people fought for freedom and was oppressed and humiliated.
The Negro mother is represented as a woman who is ready to go through this oppression and humiliation if it is what her children’s freedom is going to take. She addresses her African-American sons and daughters asking them to be persistent in their fight for rights and never to step back: “Believe in the right, let none push you back. /Remember the whip and the slaver’s track” (Michelle Fine 163).
As compared to “Negro Speaks of Rivers’ and “Democracy” the poem “The Negro Mother” has a slightly different theme. Whereas the former two poems are about suffering of black people from oppression and their demand for equal rights the theme of “The Negro Mother” is what the mothers get through in order to make the lives of their children better. The life of a black mother is even more complicated as apart from the problems white mothers face she has to protect her children from public oppression and persecution.
The theme finds its realization in such lines as “I am the dark girl who crossed the red sea /Carrying in my body the seed of the free. /I am the woman who worked in the field /Bringing the cotton and the corn to yield” (Michelle Fine 162) as well as “But I kept trudging on through the lonely years. /Sometimes, the road was hot with the sun, /But I had to keep on till my work was done…” (Michelle Fine 163). These lines show that the mother has gone through a lot of difficulties and now she calls her children, the black community, to always remember about these sufferings of hers. The mother is the history, the representation of the whole black nation asking them to remember who they are.
The poem consists of three stanzas: the opening one, which is the introduction of the mother, the second one is short; it consists of four lines only and states that it has been “three hundred years” before the struggle for black people’s rights began; the third stanza is the longest one; it contains description of the mothers’ sufferings and advice to her children to remember their ancestry and to respect those who fought for their freedom. The language, the poem is written in is dramatic and figurative which adds the poem educational tone.
Unlike the language of two other poems the language of “The Negro mother” is able to express the full meaningfulness of the idea without hidden sense, like in “Negro Speaks of Rivers” or negativity and resoluteness like in “Democracy”. “The Negro Mother” is the most rhyming of the three poems and it follows aabbcc rhyme scheme resembling a ballad.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be mentioned that the three poems under consideration though united by a common idea have certain differences. “Negro Speaks of the Rivers” and “Democracy” are more alike as they have very close themes. The theme of “The Negro Mother” is a bit different but it resembles “Negro Speaks of the Rivers” in figurativeness of language which differs them both from “Democracy”.
All three poems are different in style, the first one reminding blank verse, the second written in a freestyle though with most of the lines rhyming and the third follows a definite rhyming pattern. They all are different according to their forms as well with “Negro Speaks of Rivers” simply written in fourteen lines, “Democracy” organized in four stanzas of different length, and “The Negro Mother” consisting of three stanzas divided according to their meaning.
What unites the three poems is the poet’s desire to bring to people, both black and white, the depth of black people’s suffering in the period of their oppression and make it clear once and for all that black people differ from others simply by the color of their skin having the same ability to love, hate, suffer and, in case with “The Negro Mother” to sacrifice whatever it takes for the sake of future children.
Even differing from each other in style, language, form, and some other techniques these three poems by Langston Hughes produce an equal impression on the reader arousing compassion and sorrow for black people who had to suffer so much in order to survive and live till the moment when they gained freedom and equality.
Works Cited
- Langston Hughes, Arnold Rampersad. The Poems, 1941-1950: 1941-1950. University of Missouri Press, 2001.
- Arnold Rampersad, Hilary Herbold. The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry. Oxford University Press US, 2006.
- Michelle Fine. Framing Dropouts: Notes on the Politics of an Urban Public High School. SUNY Press, 1991.