Both poems are about the past and the strength that has occurred because of the past. The Negro Speaks of Rivers Hughes says, “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.” (Hughes and Rampersad, line 6.36). That sentence says a lot about the strength his ancestor had, in a literal and metaphorical sense. In the literal sense they had the strength to build the pyramids on the Nile River. In a metaphorical sense they endured the journey from their homeland into the unknown, which was brave of them. Mother to Son begins with the mother referencing the past by saying “Well son, I'll tell you:/ Life to me ain't been no glass staircase.” He alludes to his past and how tumultuous it was, but still is