The river in this poem is described through comparisons or figures of speech. The observer thinks the river is amazing as its intensity has decreased considerably. The water is described as ‘swollen’; this gives us the image of the water flowing along the river in a rough motion and is forming little waves. It is disordered and dirty. Line 19-20 is a simile where the flowing river is compared to a beast that is sneaking around. It is referred as ‘beast’ as it had created a massive destruction to the place and has ruined everybody’s mood. Now, it is as if the ‘beast’ is tired and retreats slowly, so it is said to be sneaking around. Another role of the river in this poem is to show continuity of life. Though the place had been devastated and the river’s flow had been disturbed, it still flows as it should be. So it passes a message to the observer and the readers that no matter what happened to us, we are not allowed to give up and lose hope, we have to continue our lives and persevere.
The devastation by the flood is also described clearly by different comparisons. The observer visits a park and notice that it had been destroyed by the flood. He thinks condition now is so bad – without trees and living things, that even in the past, during summer, when the trees is losing its life (metaphorically), the park is still two feet higher. This tells that the flood had brushed away the trees and left the ground now – flat. After the flood, around the park is now occupied by ‘flotsam’, which is floating wreckage of ships, and also ‘foliage’ which is architectural ornament. These objects are now lying around without order, giving us a vivid image of mess and disorders. The observer shares with us his memories of climbing the dike because the lower bridge is threatened. This gives us a picture of how high the flood was that even a bridge is not safe anymore and a dike – dam, which is so high, had to be climbed for safety. A feeling of sympathy is aroused in the readers mind when the observer recalls his possessions and memories which were swept away by the flood and thinks of how lucky he is to survive at this moment.
Atmosphere of tragic is created in the last 5 lines of the poem, when the observer sees an old coat hanging on a tree-branch. The image created in us is a person dragged along with the powerful river flow, screaming for help and finally his/her coat is stuck on a tree-branch, whereas the person is dragged to a place nobody knows. This tells us different fates which happened to people during the flood. It also arouses a feeling of pity and misery to the readers.
Last line of the poem, “What sort of drunken creature had passed there.” sums up the observer feelings and views of the flood. It is referred as drunken because it just passed across anything without consideration. It didn’t bother whether the victim is old or young, male or female – it just went through them. The flood is compared with a ‘creature’ because it acted without thinking and caused a terrible devastation, just like a creature is – thoughtless.
The theme created in the poem is destruction and misery. The aspect of destruction is portrayed out by (line 7-10), whereas the feeling of misery is mostly brought out from (line 27-31).
