The general rhyming pattern of the poem is AABBCCDD. I think the poet has chosen this rhyming pattern because it makes the poem flow more easily when it is read, which furthers the idea of a river’s flow being constant. I think that when the rhyme scheme changes are when the river bends or turns a corner. Occasionally the rhythm is jaunty and further gives across the idea of the river being playful and humorous. When the rhyme scheme changes towards the end it could be the water hitting the banking or the river is separating off into separate streams. As well as this, it could be the river coming to an ultimate stop.
The main images that the poet uses are of a powerful and mighty river, ‘As I throw them up’, which could be in reference to the river drowning someone and maybe taking away their life. This also links with the title ‘The River God’ as the idea of the river taking someone’s life is similar to that of God being the only one who gets to take away people’s lives.
The poem is dominated by a word set linked to rivers and water. These words include; pebbles,pools,fish,swimming,drown,float,bathe,weir,drowning,flow,bethed,water,deep,river bed, weed, smooth, wash and wide. I think these words have been specifically chosen to create a particular effect, ‘drowning’, this possibly shows a sinister side to the river. Also, ‘deep’ makes it seem like a mighty river which again links with the title.
The poet uses many repetitions in the poem. The main ones which stand out to me are the repetition of the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ which could show arrogance and selfishness of the river. As well as this there is repetition of the word ‘old’ which is used to get across to the reader that the river is old and this could add to the idea of the river being lonely as old and lonely are words that are often associated to one another. There repetition of the words ‘drown’ and ‘drowning’ show the spiteful side to the river. Other poetic techniques that the poet uses could be alliteration, ‘fish floats’. The repetition of the ‘f’ sound which makes the poem flow could be inferred as sounding like water.
There is a mixture of tenses throughout the poem. It starts of in present tense towards the start but begins to turn into past tense, ‘bathed in me’, in the middle when the river is telling a story. Towards the end it begins to turn into present tense once again. The mixture of tenses show that the poem is a reflective poem.
The use of caesura in the poem shows the reader how the poem should be read. There a two lines in the poem that begin with a single word followed by a full stop. These words are ‘Go’ and ‘Now’. The use of caesura has the effect on the reader that the river is lonely and has been left before, and because the poem and the journey is coming to an end, it wants the reader to leave it then to stop anymore loss.
When first reading the title ‘The River God’ a peaceful and desolate river comes to mind. This could be due to the fact that the word ‘God’ is associated with peacefulness while also being solitary and alone.
After having read the poem, the river to me seems playful and loving while at the same time spiteful and humorous. The river could be seen as being playful and humorous, ‘contrary to rules’, because someone who breaks rules could be doing something fun and daring. The line ‘contrary to rules’ could also link with the title ‘The River God’ because of the idea of God setting out rules such as the ten commandments.
The river seems playful and humorous also, ‘Hi yih, yippity-yap, merrily I flow’, because it seems like it is celebrating or cheering about something due to the non-standard English.
The river also seems loving and caring, ‘To be my beautiful dear’, through the use of vocabulary.
Throughout the poem there are many references to God and religion. For example, in line 10 ‘O I may be an old foul river’ – the spelling of the O is like that of the spelling at the start of a prayer, which may show that the river isn’t all bad. Also the word ‘bless’ could be a reference and shows that the river isn’t all spiteful as it bless’ people’s swimming.
In lines 11-26 I feel sympathy for the river as it seems lonely; this is shown to me in the line ‘So I brought her down here, To be my beautiful dear’. The river also appears to be impatient to me, this is shown in the line ‘Oh will she stay with me will she stay, this beautiful lady or will she go?’ Also I feel that the river doesn’t know its own strength as it thinks it’s trying to help the woman and play with her when it seems to me like it is drowning her – ‘wash away her fear’.
