Langston Hughes
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
[Verse 1]
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
[Verse 2]
I bathed in the Euphrates
When dawns were young
I built my hut near the Congo
And it lulled me to sleep
[Piano Solo]
[Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
I've known rivers
Ancient, dusky rivers
My soul has grown deep like the rivers