Postcolonial Literature

A River
by A. K. Ramanujan
Course Instructor:Fasiha Batool
A River in Madurai
Introduction of the poem:

“A River” is a realistic description of a river that flows (or sometimes does not flow) through

the city of Madurai (Oldest city in India , a city of temples). The poem implicitly (indirectly)

comments on the lack of realism . At the same time, the poem itself seems ultimately a

violation of the realism it at first seems to endorse (approve).

Stanza Wise Explanation of the poem
Stanza # 1

In Madurai, Line 1
city of temples and poets, Line 2
who sang of cities and temples, Line 3
every summer Line 4
a river dries to a trickle Line 5
in the sand, Line 6
baring the sand ribs, Line 7
straw and women's hair Line 8
clogging the water gates Line 9
at the rusty bars Line 10
under the bridges with patches Line 11
of repair all over them Line 12
the wet stones glistening like sleepy Line 13
crocodiles, the dry ones Line 14
shaven water-buffaloes lounging in the sun Line 15
The poets only sang of the floods. Line 16
Explanation:

In his poem A River, the narrator talks of the river flowing through the ancient city of Madurai. Madurai has
been sketched by the narrator who is visiting it, as

‘A city of temples and poets’

This is an ironic reference to Madurai as a seat of Tamilian culture, which according to him is in a state of
decadence. He observes that the poets of past and present only speak of the river during the rains and floods.
The poet describes the river in summer.
It turns to a dry trickle, uncovering ‘sand ribs’. He details the underneath, lower side of the river that stays
hidden. Visible now, are the bits of straw and women’s hair that chokes (clogs, obstructs) the rusty gates of
the river and the bridges, that are covered over with ‘patches of repair’.
The narrator remarks that the poets who sang and they, who now imitate them, see only the symbolism of
vitality when the river is in flood. With a few stark (plain) images, the poet completes the picture of the river
and its complexities which have been glossed over and ignored. Yet not to stress merely the grim, unlovely
angle, the poet brings alive the beauty too, which lies open in the summer. This (beauty) has been lost on the
sensibilities of the past poets:

Using vivid similes, he refers to a lack of imagination of the old poets who ‘only sang of the floods’
Stanza # 2

He was there for a day Line 17

when they had the floods. Line 18
People everywhere talked Line 19
of the inches rising, Line 20
of the precise number of cobbled steps Line 21
run over by the water, rising Line 22
on the bathing places, Line 23
and the way it carried off three village houses, Line 24
one pregnant woman Line 25
and a couple of cows Line 26

named Gopi and Brinda as usual. Line 27

Explanation:

In stanza two, the poet speaks of the river in flood in the rains. He was there once and saw what happened.
The river in flood destroys everything in its wake from animals to houses and from houses to human life.
This happens once a year and has been continuing for years in the same pattern.
He notes the casual approach of the of the towns people. Anxiously they talk of the rising level of water
and enumerate (count) mechanically the ‘precise’ number of steps as the water brims over the bathing
places.

The river carries off:

‘three village houses,
one pregnant woman
and a couple of cows
named Gopi and Brinda as usual.’

The early poets and their successors reprove, criticize the losses as mere statistics, unheeding (not giving
attention) of the destruction, suffering and human pain left in the wake of the flood. Their aim, according
to the speaker, is simply to record an event to arrest the momentary attention of the people. He finds this
attitude shocking and callous (heartless).
Stanza # 3

The new poets still quoted Line 28

the old poets, but no one spoke Line 29
in verse Line 30
of the pregnant woman Line 31
drowned, with perhaps twins in her, Line 32
kicking at blank walls Line 33
even before birth. Line 34
Explanation:

The poets deemed it enough to versify and exalt the river only when it flooded once a year. While they
sang of the river as a creative force giving birth to new life, the paradox of the woman who drowned with
twins in her eludes (escapes, flees) them. Embracing only the glory of the floods, they failed realizing its
more complex repercussions on human life. The narrator gives us a more complete impression of the
river as destroyer as well as preserver.
Stanza # 4

He said: Line 35
the river has water enough Line 36
to be poetic Line 37
about only once a year Line 38
and then Line 39
it carries away Line 40
in the first half-hour Line 41
three village houses, Line 42
a couple of cows Line 43
named Gopi and Brinda Line 44
and one pregnant woman Line 45
expecting identical twins Line 46
with no moles on their bodies, Line 47
with different coloured diapers Line 48
to tell them apart. Line 49
Explanation:

He is sarcastic about the poets of past who seize only the floods to write about and that too merely once a year.

‘the river has water enough

to be poetic
about only once a year’

The above lines satirize the traditional romantic view of the river in Madurai, by the ancient poets. He is
derisive too, of the new poets who have no wit but to blindly copy their predecessors.
Humor is presented in the names of the cows and the colored diapers of the twins to help tell them apart. Yet
this is an attack on the orthodoxy of Hinduism. While cows are given names, no one knows who the woman is
nor are they concerned. Human sacrifices were performed to appease the gods because of droughts in Tamil
culture and the drowned twin babies may be a reference to such cruel and orthodox rituals.

This is an unusual poem with many layers of meaning and is a commentary on the indifference of the old and
modern poets to the ravages (effects) caused by the river in flood and the pain and suffering caused to humans .
Analysis of the poem
In this poem ‘A River’, 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.

The river 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 seasons. It is
completely dry in summer and flooded in full in the rainy season.

In this poem, the poet refers to the river which flows through the city of Madurai. The word Madurai means a
“sweet city. This city is the center of Tamil culture and learning. It is also a holy city full of temples. The poets
have written many poems on the temples and the river.
In this 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.
There is also the picture of the river in the rainy season. Generally, all kinds of poets have written about it in
their poems.
During the rainy season when the floods occur, the people observe it very anxiously. They remember the rising
of the river inch by inch from time to time. They remember how the stone steps of the bathing place are
submerged one by one.
They see how three village houses were damaged and carried off by the floods. They know how two cows
named Brinda and Gopi were carried away. They also know how a pregnant woman was also drowned in the
river during the flood. Both the old and new poets have mentioned these things in their poems. But the way
they have described these things in their poems shows that they were not much alive to or sympathetic with
human suffering.
They did not mention the name of the woman who was carrying twins. Before their birth, she was drowned in the

flooded river. At the time of drowning, most probably the twins must have kicked the sides of her womb. She

must have got much pain out of this. But both the new poets and old poets did not refer to all these miseries of the

woman in their poetic creations.

This becomes ultimately clear that they are not sympathetic with suffering human beings. They are totally callous

and indifferent. This kind of attitude makes their poetry weak and unappealing, dry and cheerless.

The tone of the poem is based on sarcasm and irony. The structure of the poem has been in paragraphs and single

lines. There are four longer verse paragraphs and a shorter one in the beginning. There are only two single

isolated lines. This kind of structural arrangement contributes to the effect of irony. It also helps to grasp the main

points clearly. Secondly, a word can be said about the language used in the poem. It is very simple on account of

which the thought sequence of the poem is presented unmistakably and clearly.
Themes of the poem:

Diaspora

Yearning for Home

Human Anguish

Nostalgia for Tamil Culture

Past and Present