Race

1. Figurative Language

1.1. Metaphors:

1.1.1. "I have known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins."

1.1.1.1. They compare ancient rivers to human blood in human blood in human veins, this relates to the theme because many different races derived from the mankind since the world begun.

1.2. Concrete Imagery:

1.2.1. "I bathed in the Euphrates river when dawns were young.

1.2.2. "I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep."

1.2.2.1. This relates to the theme because it it gives a place in Africa. The place reveals what kind of race lives there.

1.3. Personification:

1.3.1. "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."

1.3.1.1. This relates to the theme because it is in a different continent and many different races contribute to community.

2. Structure

2.1. The title "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"  contributes to the theme because it states that the race speaking through the poem is specifically non- Caucasian.

2.2. The structure  in the poem stresses the "I" in the scansion to make a point.

3. Characters

3.1. The narrator is the character inside the poem who speaks for himself, about oppressed people of different races.

3.2. The Narrator is speaking for his race and has his own perspective.