"Suicide’s Note"

The Calm,

Cool face of the river

Asked me for a kiss.

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

                Hughe’s beautiful (yet tragic) poem is simply a terrible dilemma between death and life. Though the poem only consists of the four lines, he chooses to use spiritual aspects rather than a person. Because of his use of “river” and “calm” he is able to capture a type of tranquility that is unusual to see in an angst piece.  He manipulates the idea of death and the addictive curiosity that pulls many people toward the next stage of life: death. Many of whom that have read this poem may also find allusions between Greek Myths. The River of The Styx, a classical setting of the underworld, symbolizes the consequences of death (lost dreams, sacrifices, the things that people were never about to finish in life, etc). The River of The Styx is meant to be perceived as a force that was tempting but dreadful. Giving the river a “kiss” would make the soul become apart of the Underworld and would never be able to go back into the living realm. It would be, in other words, death.

                Also, unlike the mythology allusion, a river is known to go “on and on” and never stops. This is ironic, since the piece is about suicide and ending a life. This, therefore, could symbolize a goodbye note to suicide, saying for it to “go away”. Because of the kiss toward the river, the speaker no longer wants to die. The speaker wants to continue on his/her road in life, following the stream onward.

                The tone has a romantic taste to it. “Kiss”, which in many ways could have a connotation of giving the speaker away or awakening death, adds a peaceful tone. Adding to the romantic tone, normally, a river is not calm. Typically, it is hitting the rocks and splashing around its surroundings. The ability for the river to be calm toward the person shows an attempt of sympathy or possibly shows how the speaker does not see it as a bad force. The description of calm proves the positive view the speaker has for the “river”.

                A river in many novels and poems symbolizes a mirror.  “Rivers” in novels and poems are found frequently to reveal the true identity toward the speaker. Commonly, it gives the speaker a realization of identity and discovers, just by looking into it, what truth is hidden within themselves. Also, the diction use of “face”, rather than “surface”, brings upon an idea that the river is not just a geological setting, but in many ways could be a metaphor toward a person. “The cool face of the river”, the face being of a person, and the river being the sin the speaker is about to commit.

                Lastly, the shortness of the poem brings an abrupt end toward the speaker. If the poem was long, it would show a tremendous life to the speaker, but since it is short it makes the reader question whether or not that was truly the end of the speaker’s life or not.