Throughout The Negro Speaks of Rivers, the narrator utilizes allusion to chart the movement of African-American culture through the ages by alluding to four major rivers. Along with allusions, the narrator uses metaphors to compare the soul of the black community to the ancient and everlasting great rivers of the earth. In this way, the speaker is representing the entire black community and the rivers become a symbol of the history of Africans and African-Americans alike. In the first stanza, the narrator uses a simile to compare the age of the river to that of the Earth. Likewise, by stating that he(the Negro community) has known rivers that are almost as ancient as the world, the rivers become a metaphor, comparing the humans by saying the
