Many
great civilizations originated along fertile riverbanks—Indian along the Indus
and Ganges, Chinese along the Yellow and Yangtze, Sumerian along the Tigris and
Euphrates, Egyptian along the Nile, or Roman along the Tiber—so that rivers
naturally invoke mythic attributes.
The
river is a mythic archetype, specifically, a water archetype.
“Water
represents life, cleansing, mystery, and even death. There are multiple ways
the water archetype can appear, and its appearance can shape its purpose.
Oceans often represent infinity and timelessness while a river could represent
the flow of time, rebirth, or cycle of life.”
“Almost
any source of water will focus on the importance of life. Without water there
is no life. A journey on or down a river is often a metaphor for life’s journey
or a character’s journey, especially if the river is shown as a road or means
of travel—pulling or pushing a character through changes. …Rivers can also be a
metaphor for the passage of time…or the stages of a human life…. Since rivers
are often used as political borders or boundaries, crossing one may be seen as
a ‘passing over’ or a decision that cannot be taken back. In Africa and thus
African literature, rivers are the largest sources of income and commerce and
so have additional meaning leaning toward the source of life and morality and where the fight for good and evil happens.”
The
river is a central symbol, and a major motif organizing the narrative in Mark
Twain’s Huckleberry Finn (1884).
“For
Huck and Jim, the Mississippi River is the ultimate symbol of freedom. Alone on
their raft, they do not have to answer to anyone. The river carries them toward
freedom: for Jim, toward the free states; for Huck, away from his abusive
father and the restrictive ‘sivilizing’ of St. Petersburg. Much like the river
itself, Huck and Jim are in flux, willing to change their attitudes about each
other with little prompting. Despite their freedom, however, they soon find
that they are not completely free from the evils and influences of the towns on
the river’s banks. Even early on, the real world intrudes on the paradise of
the raft: the river floods, bringing Huck and Jim into contact with criminals,
wrecks, and stolen goods. Then, a thick fog causes them to miss the mouth of
the Ohio River, which was to be their route to freedom.
“As
the novel progresses, then, the river becomes something other than the
inherently benevolent place Huck originally thought it was.”
—SparkNotes
—SparkNotes
This
first poem is one of my favorites, if not my favorite.
BRIMMING
WATER by Tu Fu
Original
language Chinese
Translated
by Kenneth Roxroth
Under
my feet the moon
Glides
along the river.
Near
midnight, a gusty lantern
Shines
in the heart of the night.
Along
the sandbars flocks
Of
white egrets roost,
Each
one clenched like a fist.
In
the wake of my barge
The
fish leap, cut the water,
And
dive and splash.
This poem was originally
published in One Hundred Poems from the
Chinese, translated by Kenneth Roxroth (New York: New Directions Publishing
Corporation, 1971), page 34.
The
poem is concisely descriptive, vividly evoking an unusually lucid image of the
scene.
Evidently, it is the Chinese of the Tang dynasty, possibly earlier, who
invented Imagism, not Ezra Pound in the 20th century.
Tenets of Pound’s Imagist manifesto:
- Direct treatment of the “thing," whether subjective or objective
Tu Fu’s beckoning image of a traveler sliding downriver conveys an almost magical reality.
Tenets of Pound’s Imagist manifesto:
- Direct treatment of the “thing," whether subjective or objective
- To use
absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation
- As regarding
rhythm, to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the
metronome
—“A Brief Guide to Imagism” (September 5, 2017) by Academy of American Poets
See: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-imagism
—“A Brief Guide to Imagism” (September 5, 2017) by Academy of American Poets
See: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/brief-guide-imagism
Tu Fu’s beckoning image of a traveler sliding downriver conveys an almost magical reality.
Due
credit must be given to the quality of the translation, which renders the
original Chinese in precise poetical English.
EZEKIEL 47:1-12
EZEKIEL 47:1-12
Then
he brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the façade of the
temple was toward the east. The water flowed down from the southern side of the
temple, south of the altar.
He
led me outside by the north gate and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the southern side.
Then
when he had walked off to the east with a measuring cord in his hand, he
measured off a thousand cubits and had me wade through the water, which was
ankle-deep.
He
measured off another thousand and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep. Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade, and
the water was up to my waist.
Once
more he measured off a thousand, but there was now a river through which I
could not wade, for the water had risen so high it had become a river that
could not be crossed except by swimming.
He
asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?” Then he brought me to the bank of
the river, where he had me sit.
Along
the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He
said to me, “This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
“Wherever
the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall
be made fresh.
“Fishermen
shall be standing along it from En-gedi to En-eglaim, spreading their nets
there. Its kinds of fish shall be like those of the Great Sea, very numerous.
“Only
its marshes and swamps shall not be made fresh. They shall be left for salt.
“Along
both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow. Their leaves
shall not fade or their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall
serve for food and their leaves for medicine.
—1970 New American Bible translation
The Bible teems with symbols, of which rivers, streams, and flowing water are among the most prominent and significant.
Symbolically, the river Jordan is one of the most significant. The Israelites enter the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan, which miraculously parts in two to expose a dry path between the waters (Joshua 3:9-17), a prodigy Elijah repeats when he strikes his rolled-up mantle upon the waters, allowing him and his successor, Elisha, to cross on dry ground to the other side (2 Kings 2:8).
Key to the interpretation of this poem is identifying the principal motifs—the river, yes, obviously, but also the meadow, the mountains, God, and death.
—1970 New American Bible translation
The Bible teems with symbols, of which rivers, streams, and flowing water are among the most prominent and significant.
Symbolically, the river Jordan is one of the most significant. The Israelites enter the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan, which miraculously parts in two to expose a dry path between the waters (Joshua 3:9-17), a prodigy Elijah repeats when he strikes his rolled-up mantle upon the waters, allowing him and his successor, Elisha, to cross on dry ground to the other side (2 Kings 2:8).
Soon
after the two traverse the Jordan, Elijah transfers his prophetic trust to
Elisha, leaving the fifty guild prophets on the other side of the river. When
Elijah is taken up to the heavens in a fiery chariot and horses, Elisha repeats
the miracle and crosses back to the other side. It is a sign that Elijah’s
mantle is now in Elisha’s possession, literally and metaphorically. “The spirit
of Elijah rests on Elisha,” acknowledge the guild prophets, bowing to the
ground.
The
river Jordan is also where John conducts his ministry of baptism and where
Jesus is baptized.
The
river overflowing from the Temple in Ezekiel is the same as the “River of Life”
in Revelation 22:1-2. Revelation was written 600 years after Ezekiel. Both
books of prophecy share key motifs and allude to Psalm 1:3, an introductory psalm
which precedes Ezekiel in composition by over 400 years.
Traditionally,
the “River of Life” is identified with the rite of baptism and with the waters of
divine grace pouring forth.
A
RIVER by John Poch
God
knows the law of life is death,
and
you can feel it in your warbler neck,
your
river-quick high stick wrist
at
the end of day. But the trophies:
a
goldfinch tearing up a pink thistle,
a
magpie dipping her wing tips
in
a white cloud, an ouzel barreling
hip-high
upstream with a warning.
You
wish you had a river. To make
a
river, it takes some mountains.
Some
rain to watershed. You wish
you
had a steady meadow and pink thistles
bobbing
at the border for your horizons,
pale
robins bouncing their good postures
in
the spruce shadows. Instead, the law
of
life comes for you like three men
and
a car. In your dreams, you win them over
with
your dreams: a goldfinch tearing up
a
pink thistle. A magpie so slow
she
knows how to keep death at bay,
she
takes her time with argument
and
hides her royal blue in black.
Shy
as a blue grouse, nevertheless God
doesn’t
forget his green mountains.
You
wish you had a river.
This
poem was originally published in Poetry
(July/August 2009).
Key to the interpretation of this poem is identifying the principal motifs—the river, yes, obviously, but also the meadow, the mountains, God, and death.
“The
law of life is death,” says the poem, and it “comes for you like three men and
a car.” Mysterious, the metaphor is foreboding.
Although
repetitions occur throughout, only one line, the speaker’s response to death’s
coming, is precisely reproduced: “You wish you had a river.”
If
we look closely at what the poem says about the river and in its immediate vicinity,
the meadow, both are understood in alluring terms, almost Edenic—“a goldfinch
tearing up a pink thistle, / a magpie dipping her wing tips / in a white cloud,”
“pale robins bouncing their good postures / in the spruce shadows.” They
are the “trophies” of death.
Where does God fit in this picture? According to the poem, he is the intelligence, the author behind the “green mountains” that give rise to the watershed. Softly, the point is made that God creates the beautiful river and meadow that the poem associates with the time of death.
The poem isn’t a prayer, but in expressing a heartfelt wish and acknowledging the role God plays at the time of death, it almost is.
Where does God fit in this picture? According to the poem, he is the intelligence, the author behind the “green mountains” that give rise to the watershed. Softly, the point is made that God creates the beautiful river and meadow that the poem associates with the time of death.
The poem isn’t a prayer, but in expressing a heartfelt wish and acknowledging the role God plays at the time of death, it almost is.
 |
| Jordan River near Chorazin |
