To The Nile Explain

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 3

To The Nile - John Keats

Most of the students find this poem very difficult because of the language, Keats has
used. So, I like to explain you how to learn this poem and what are the most important
parts that we have to pay our concentration on what we are going to learn in this
poem .
First and foremost, we should know this poem belong to the category of sonnet.
Sonnet is a fourteen line poem. There are 14 lines in a poem. Basically, we can divide
sonnets into two types in the literature. No. 1 it is known as Shakespearean sonnets
and No 2 is known as Petrachan sonnets. Basically, both sonnets have fourteen lines.
But there is a slight difference on the rhyme scheme.
Shakespearean Sonnet Petrachan Sonnet
A A
B Quatrain -1 B
A B
B A Octave [ 8 lines]
A
C B
D B
C Quatrain - 2 A
D 9th line VOLTA [ TURN]
C
E D
F C Sestet [ six lines]
E Quatrain - 3 D
F C
The Turn [Volta] D
G Rhyming couplet
G
To The Nile – John Keats
John Keats has written this poem to give two aspect of the River Nile.
The first aspect is the mythical or the mysterious aspect; the mythical or the
mysterious quality of the River Nile. This mysterious quality is brought to action through
the octave part. Then in the sestet part explains the physical qualities [ or usual
qualities of any river and he tries to show that Nile River is also just a normal river. That
is explained in the sestet.
Octave Mythical or the mysterious quality of the river.
Sestet Natural elements. Or the usual qualities of the river

These two aspects are very important to us because in questions you have to answer
these two aspects.

The poem starts as


“SON of the old moon mountain African!
Chief of the pyramids and crocodiles!”

Through the first two lines themselves, John Keats has given us the idea or the
perspective that this River Nile has something special. It says “You are son of the old
moon mountain” SON, it is a metaphor. So the River Nile is directly compared to the
son and the old moon mountain is the parents of the River Nile.

First line has personification as well. The Nile River is personified. That means giving life
to none living things.
Chief of the pyramids and crocodiles. The chief again is a metaphor. The Nile River
has been taken as the leader or the chief. Or the main figure.

when now come to “Thee- you” is archaic language.


Fruitful means - prosperous.
That very while – at the same moment
Seeing’s inward span – means ‘imagination’ [ third eye]
Seeing’s inward span [ it is a periphrasis – [set of words which gives one idea or
description rather than one word]
There is another technique here called Juxtapose –[ juxtaposition]
[desert and fruitful] Bringing to contradictory words together.

Nurse of swart nation [ it is a metaphor]


Thou – you is archaic language.
Art thou fruitful? Rhetorical question.
Worn with toil – work extremely hard. [ it is also archaic language]
Sestet part.

Shift in the 9th line is the Volta. [Where the change occurs from octave to sestet]

On the 9th line the poet changes the attitude towards the Nile River.
The mythical and mysterious quality changes into the reality.

“O may dark fancies err? They surely do”


The contents in the octave part are fancies. Te poet thinks that The Nile is not a special
river. Practical elements of the river are being discussed from line number 9.

You might also like