Movement Description:
The Harlem Renaissance provided many opportunities for African Americans during this time. The movement was very influential on famous poets who witnessed these events first-hand. Many doors became available to African Americans who moved from the South , where they had little to no equality with others, and migrated to the North. The Harlem Renaissance gave African American poets the drive and determination to continue writing and informing others about the reality they faced as a minority.
The Harlem Renaissance provided many opportunities for African Americans during this time. The movement was very influential on famous poets who witnessed these events first-hand. Many doors became available to African Americans who moved from the South , where they had little to no equality with others, and migrated to the North. The Harlem Renaissance gave African American poets the drive and determination to continue writing and informing others about the reality they faced as a minority.
Poem Analysis:
The author, Langston Hughes, explains how knowledgable of rivers he is, amd his many encounters with them all over the world. He describes how he has been around long enough to experience all types of rivers near and far, night and day, good and bad. Also, Langston Hughes talks about how his soul has grown just as deep as the flow of the rivers he has witnessed. |
Literary Devices:
The obvious figurative language used in the poem was flashbacks. Langston Hughes constantly refers to his travels to famous rivers, such as the Nile River, Euphrates River, etc. " 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..." Also, in the second stanza, he uses a simile to compare the very depths of his soul to the depths of the rivers he has visited. POEM LINK: http://thepoetryplace.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/three-poems-from-langston-hughes-the-harlem-renaissance/ |