Now, a Literary Moment...

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by Langston Hughes

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.

This poem was read by Poetry Out Loud Minnesota State champion Tatianna Adams

This Literary Moment was created by the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information on Poetry Out Loud, the national recitation contest for high school students, visit poetryoutloud.org