by Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967)

Language: English 
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.

Note: all indented lines were attached to the previous line in the original publication; the lines have been broken to fit on the screen.

First published in Crisis, June 1921.

Composition:

    Set to music by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", 2008 [ low voice or medium voice and piano ]

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 103