The River (Poem)

Poem: The River

Caroline Ann Bowles

Warm up

• Have you ever been to a river?
• Describe the beauty of the river you have seen.
• Do you think rivers have life like human beings?

The River

River, river, little river!
Bright you sparkle on your way;
O’er the yellow pebbles dancing,
Through the flowers and foliage glancing,
Like a child at play.

River, river! Swelling river!
On you rush through rough and smooth;
Louder, faster, brawling, leaping,
Over rocks, by rose-banks, sweeping
Like impetuous youth.

River, river! Brimming river!
Broad and deep, and still as time;
Seeming still, yet still in motion,
Tending onward to the ocean,
Just like mortal prime.

River, river! Headlong river!
Down you dash into the sea,
Sea that line hath never sounded,
Sea that sail hath never rounded,
Like eternity.

About the Poet

Caroline Ann Bowles (1786–1854) was an English poet and the wife of Robert Southey, the Poet Laureate of Britain. She was a poet of great merit and produced some of the best work at the threshold of the Victorian era. She wrote various other works including The Little Ladybird, Chapter on Churchyard and Tales of the Factories.

Glossary

• foliage (n) : a cluster of leaves, flowers and branches
• glancing (adj) : touching or hitting something lightly from the side, without causing much damage
• swelling (adj) : becoming greater in intensity or volume
• rose-banks (n) : riverbanks where roses (flowers) appear along
• impetuous (adj) : acting quickly and without thought or care
• tending (adj) : going in a particular way
• headlong (adv) : with the head first and the rest of the body following
• hath (v) : in the past, the third person singular form of the word ‘have’
• eternity (n) : life continuing without end after death

A. Memorise the poem ‘The River’

B. Read the following lines and answer the questions given below

1. O’er the yellow pebbles dancing,
   Through the flowers and foliage glancing
   a) How does the river flow?
   b) What is meant by ‘foliage’?

2. River, river! Swelling river!
   On you rush through rough and smooth;
   a) Why does the poet mention the river to be swelling?
   b) What are the surfaces the river flows through?

3. Over rocks, by rose-banks, sweeping
   Like impetuous youth.
   a) Where does the rose grow?
   b) Which stage of man is compared here?

4. Broad and deep, and still as time;
   Seeming still, yet still in motion.
   a) What is broad and deep?
   b) Is the time still?

5. Tending onward to the ocean,
   Just like mortal prime.
   a) Where is the river flowing to?
   b) What does the poet mean by ‘mortal prime’?

Poetic Devices

• Anaphora is the repetition of a certain word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines of writing or speech.
  e.g.
  Sea that line hath never sounded,
  Sea that sail hath never rounded

• Epithet is an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or the thing mentioned.
  e.g. little river

• Imagery is the name given to the elements in a poem that spark the senses. It need not be only visual; it can relate to any of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell).
  e.g. yellow pebbles

C. Read the following lines and answer the questions

1. Bright you sparkle on your way;
   O’er the yellow pebbles dancing,
   Through the flowers and foliage glancing,
   Like a child at play.
   Pick out the rhyming words.

2. Mention the rhyme scheme of the poem.

3. Through the flowers and foliage glancing,
   Like a child at play.
   Mention the figure of speech used in the above line. Give various other examples from the poem.

4. Seeming still, yet still in motion
   a. Pick out the words in alliteration from the above line.
   b. Identify other examples from the poem for alliteration.

5. Pick out the examples for epithet from the poem.

6. Pick out the examples for imagery from the poem.

D. Answer the following in a paragraph of about 120–150 words.

1. How does the poet bring about the comparison of life with the river? Explain it with reference to the poem.
2. Describe how the poem clearly describes the features, functions and destructive power of the river.

E. Based on your understanding of the poem, complete the summary of the poem by choosing the words/phrases given below.

prime phase, the yellow pebbles, motionless, stages of human life, sweeping, child, journey, reckless youth

In the poem ‘The River’, the poet compares the flow of the river with different stages of human life. The first stanza explains how the sparkling river goes dancing over the yellow pebbles and glancing through the flowers and leaves. These acts of the river are compared to a curious and innocent child at play. The second stanza compares the river to a reckless youth who goes through rough and smooth patches of life. Like a youth, here the river becomes louder, faster and sweeping everything all along the way. In the third stanza, the river becomes like a hard-working man who is at the prime phase of life. Here the deep and broad river seems motionless but it keeps moving towards the sea like a matured man who silently marches towards the goal. In the last stanza the long journey of the river reaches the endless sea like a human life attains eternity.

Read and Enjoy

Nature, The Gentlest Mother

Emily Dickinson

Nature, the gentlest mother,
Impatient of no child,
The feeblest or the waywardest,
Her admonition mild

In forest and the hill
By traveller is heard,
Restraining rampant squirrel
Or too impetuous bird.

How fair her conversation,
A summer afternoon,—
Her household, her assembly;
And when the sun goes down

Her voice among the aisles
Incites the timid prayer
Of the minutest cricket,
The most unworthy flower.

When all the children sleep
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light her lamps;
Then, bending from the sky

With infinite affection
And infiniter care,
Her golden finger on her lip,
Wills silence everywhere.

Practice Practice Exercises

a) How does the river flow?

b) What is meant by ‘foliage’?

a) Why does the poet mention the river to be swelling?

b) What are the surfaces the river flow through?

a) Where does the rose grow?

b) Which stage of man is compared here?

a) What is broad and deep?

b) Is the time still?

a) Where is the river flowing to?

b) What does the poet mean by ‘mortal prime’?

Pick out the rhyming words.

2. Mention the rhyme scheme of the poem.

Mention the figure of speech used in the above line. Give various other examples from the poem.

a. Pick out the words in alliteration from the above line

b. Identify other examples from the poem for alliteration.

5. Pick out the examples for epithet from the poem.

6. Pick out the examples for imagery from the poem.

1. How does the poet bring about the comparison of life with the river? Explain it with reference to the poem.

2. Describe how the poem clearly describes about the features, functions and destructive power of the river.

In the poem 'The River', the poet compares the flow of the river with different . The first stanza explains how the sparkling river goes dancing over and glancing through the flowers and leaves. These acts of the river is compared to a curious and innocent at play. The second stanza compares the river to a who goes through rough and smooth patches of life. Like a youth, here the river becomes louder, faster and everything all along the way. In the third stanza, the river becomes like a hard working man who is at the of the life. Here the deep and broad river seems but it keeps moving towards the sea like a matured man who silently marches towards the goal. In the last stanza the long of the river reaches the endless sea like a human life attains eternity.