Mississippi's Golden Bosom

from Langston Hughes' "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

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.

Langston Hughes launched his reputation on this short poem which posits the speaker as an emissary for blacks throughout history. But anyone who has seen the Mississippi River knows that it doesn't change color when the sun goes down. The "muddy bosom" must then be some essence that yellows in the autumn, or it encompasses an entire landscape that surrounds the river.

Earthy spirituality or doggerel?