Question

What do the rivers symbolize in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"?

A.
the experiences and wisdom of the speaker and his people

B.
the great pain that the speaker has personally endured in life

C.
the life-affirming power and beauty of the speaker's poetry

D.
the hope that the speaker has for future generations

Answer 1

Answer: The right answer is the A) The experiences and wisdom of the speaker and his people.

Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can be added that the references to millenary rivers in this poem by African American writer and poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967)—one of them located in Asia, two in Africa, and the last one in North America—symbolize the wisdom and life experience of both the people who have lived along them for millennia and of the poet himself, who arguably represents those people, or at least speaks on behalf of them.

Answer 2

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" was written by Langston Hughes. The poem connects four great rivers in the Middle East, Africa, and America--Euphrates, Congo, Nile and the Mississippi. What the rivers symbolizes in "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" is the experiences and wisdom of the speaker and his people. The answer for this would be option A.