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river poem analysis, Essays (high school) of English

English

river poem analysis They are simply layers of paper. Each paper represents some condition you are told you need to meet so that you feel worthy. They come from parents, friends, bosses, spouses, partners, religion, and media. Before long, the papers overlap, and you no longer see what is hiding beneath.

Typology: Essays (high school)

2019/2020

Uploaded on 10/19/2020

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Ramanujan worked as a lecturer of English at Quilon and Belgaum; he later taught
at The Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda for about eight years. In 1962, he
joined the University of Chicago as an assistant professor. He was affiliated with
the university throughout his career, teaching in several departments. He taught at
other US universities as well, including Harvard University, University of
Wisconsin, University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley,
and Carleton College. At the University of Chicago, Ramanujan was instrumental
in shaping the South Asian Studies program. He worked in the departments of
South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Linguistics, and with the Committee on
Social Thought.
In 1976, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri and in 1983, he
was given the MacArthur Prize Fellowship (Shulman, 1994). In 1983, he was
appointed the William E. Colvin Professor in the Departments of South Asian
Languages and Civilizations, of Linguistics, and in the Committee on Social
Thought at the University of Chicago. That same year, he received a MacArthur
Fellowship. As an Indo-American writer, Ramanujan had the experience of the
native as well as foreign milieu. His poems such as the "Conventions of Despair"
reflected his views on the cultures and conventions of the east and west.
A.K. Ramanujan’s ‘A River’ is of his finest poem taken from his
magnum opus, The Striders (1965). Here the poet has compared
and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new
poets to human suffering. He has come to the conclusion that
both the groups of the poets are indifferent to human sorrow and
suffering. Their poetry does not reflect the miseries of the
human beings. He has proved this point in the present poem.
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Ramanujan worked as a lecturer of English at Quilon and Belgaum; he later taught at The Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda for about eight years. In 1962, he joined the University of Chicago as an assistant professor. He was affiliated with the university throughout his career, teaching in several departments. He taught at other US universities as well, including Harvard University, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, and Carleton College. At the University of Chicago, Ramanujan was instrumental in shaping the South Asian Studies program. He worked in the departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Linguistics, and with the Committee on Social Thought. In 1976, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri and in 1983, he was given the MacArthur Prize Fellowship (Shulman, 1994). In 1983, he was appointed the William E. Colvin Professor in the Departments of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, of Linguistics, and in the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. That same year, he received a MacArthur Fellowship. As an Indo-American writer, Ramanujan had the experience of the native as well as foreign milieu. His poems such as the "Conventions of Despair" reflected his views on the cultures and conventions of the east and west.

A.K. Ramanujan’s ‘ A River’ is of his finest poem taken from his

magnum opus, The Striders (1965). Here the poet has compared

and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new

poets to human suffering. He has come to the conclusion that

both the groups of the poets are indifferent to human sorrow and

suffering. Their poetry does not reflect the miseries of the

human beings. He has proved this point in the present poem.

The poem is all about a river, Vaigai which flows through the

heart of Madurai city, the centre of Tamil culture. The word

Madurai means a “sweet city”. It is a Tamil word. As a matter of

fact, this city is the seat of Tamil culture and learning. It is also a

holy city full of temples including the famous Meenakshi

Temple. The poets have written many poems on the temples and

the river. In the poem A River the poet presents two strikingly

contrasting pictures of the river: a vivid picture of the river in

the summer season and the river in its full flow when the floods

arrive with devastating fury.

In the summer, the river is almost empty. Only a very thin

stream of water flows. So the sand ribs on the bed of the river

are visible. The stones that lie on the bed of the river also

exposed to view. On the Sandy bed could be seen the hair and

straw clogging the Watergates. The iron bars under the bridge

are in need of repair. The wet stones are all like the sleeping

crocodiles. The dry stones look like the shaven buffaloes. It is a

wonder for the poet because not too often such scenes are

described by the poets. All those symbolize the utter

wretchedness and degeneration of human condition in Hindu

culture

During the rainy season when the floods hit, the poets of past

and present observe it very anxiously. They remember the rising

of the river inch by inch from time to time. They remember how

of wit, irony and humour, and dramatic imagery is distinctive of

his style. Also we may label “A River” as a tragic-comic poem.

Summary of A River ‘A River’ by A.K. Ramanujan describes how poets of the past and present have romanticized a river in Madurai. The poem begins with the speaker stating that every year, every poet sings the same songs about the sometimes flooding, and sometimes empty riverbed. When it is empty, all its hidden items are exposed. The poets have always sung about this period and the other in which the flood happens. But, they don’t get into the details of who is impacted. In the next stanzas, the speaker relays the words of the citizens of this area as they describe what happened this year. Houses were washed away, as were two cows and a woman who thought she was pregnant with twins. The speaker derides the old and new poets for not caring enough to look deeper into their environments. Analysis of A River Stanza One In Madurai, city of temples and poets, (…) shaven water-buffaloes lounging in the sun The poets only sang of the floods. In the first stanza of this piece, the speaker begins by setting the scene. He is going to be describing how the city of “Madurai” is described by poets. It is a place that is made up of “temples and

poets” and these poets have always sung of the same things. Every summer in the city the river basin is emptied. The river “dries to a trickle” and the sand is bared. The shapes and objects that are revealed are dark and somewhat ominous. The are “sand ribs” and “straw and women’s hair”. These things clog up the “watergates,” made of rusty bars. Ramanujan makes use of consonance in these lines with the repetition of the “g” sound. Rhythm is also created through the use of reuse of the word “sand” in lines six and seven. Then, in general, the repetition of words beginning of “s,” or words that carry the “s” sound. This is especially true for the first half of the stanza. Everything about the drainage system is old and in need of repair. The bridge is in patches, a fact that is revealed when the waters recede. In the last lines of this stanza, Ramanujan uses two metaphors to compare the stones to animals. The wet ones appear like crocodiles sleeping and the dry as lounging water- buffaloes. Despite all of this, the poets “only sang of the floods.” There is so much more to the city that the poets are ignoring. Stanza Two He was there for a day when they had the floods. (…)

between “old poets” and “new poets”. Both spoke about the floods, yet ignored the tragedies which resulted. In fact, to make it worse, the new poets copied what the old ones did. There was no evolution in style or subject. In the fifth and sixth lines of this section, the speaker states that it is possible that the woman who died was going to give birth to twins, increasing the life lost. This is a very interesting contrast to the flooding of the river in the first place. The waters are meant to fertilize the land and make it possible for the next crop to grow. Life is destroyed as it is being created. Stanza Four He said: the river has water enough to be poetic about only once a year (…) with no moles on their bodies, with different coloured diapers to tell them apart. In the final stanza, the speaker relays the words of the poet again. He said that the poet complained of how “the river has water enough / to be poetic / about only once a year”. It is only once a year that the poets pay attention to it, and even then they don’t want to speak about the loss of property or life.

The speaker repeats a section of the second stanza again, restating what was lost. There are additional details added. Now, he says that the woman believed she was “expecting identical twins”. They were going to be perfectly the same, with no way to tell them apart except through dressing them in “coloured diapers”. This is another humorous line, but it has a darker undertone. It speaks to the lack of care with which the poets approached the land and people. There is no desire to know who these people are or quest to adequately depict their suffering. Analysis of Poem The poem “A River” is written by A.K. Ramanujan. In this poem, the poet has compared and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new poets to human suffering. He has come to the conclusion that both the groups of the poets are indifferent to human sorrow and suffering. Their poetry dose not reflects the miseries of the human beings. He has proved this point in the present poem. The river Vaikai on whose bank the historic city of Madurai stands has been mentioned in the poems of many poets, both past and present. The river is intimately associated with the life and culture of the Tamil people. The peculiar thing, which appeals to the poets, is that the river presents two different spectacles in two different season. It is completely dry in summer and flooded in full in the rainy season. In this poem, the poet refers to the river Vaikai which flows through the city of Madurai. The word Madurai means a “sweet city”. It is a Tamil word. As a matter of fact, this city is the center of Tamil culture and learning. It is also a holy city full of temples including the famous Minakshee temple. The poets have written many poems on the temples and the river. In the present poem, A.K. Ramanujan deals with the river. In the poem “A River”, we get two pictures based upon two different kinds of description. In the summer, the river is almost empty. Only a very thin stream of water flows. So the sand ribs on the bed of the river are visible. The stones that lie on the bed of the river also exposed to view. The portion of the river under the bridge has also been described. We get a vivid picture of the river in the summer season.