Analysis of to the poem To the Nile by Keats

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A detailed analysis of Keat’s sonnet “To the Nile” by R.C. Fernando, Teacher of English Literate at A!har College, A"rana, Kandy. #hone $ %&'()*+(%, To do-nload ore notes on other /oes free of charge, 0isit y free -ebsite for 12L English Literatre stdents3 lithel/.yolasite.co I thought of providing a detailed analysis of the Poem “To the Nile” by John Keats which is prescribed for the !" "iterature new syllabus# as it is a poem students usually $nd di%cult and for which there are hardly any e&planatory notes available either in the internet or other sources'  (ou  (ou might feel that that my analysis is ridiculously ridiculously long for such a short poem' )owever# I believe that this will help the teachers as well as students to read beyond the lines and appreciate the real beauty of the this gem of a sonnet' *irst of all we must understand that this poem is a sonnet written in the Petrarchan style which contain an ocatave +the $rst eight lines, rhyming abbaabba and a sestet+ne&t si& lines, rhyming cdcdcd' In the Italian or the Petrarchan sonnet# there is usually a “volta” or a “turn” of the line of thought from the ctave to the sestet' In this sonnet also "ine number - mar.s a change of thought' The poet seems to have awa.ened from his reverie or day/dreaming of the charms of the Nile and begins to re0ect on the natural beauty of the river' The poet addresses the Nile directly# in the style of his great des such as de to utumn or the de on a 2recian 3rn' 3rn' ne should also understand the historical and the geographical geographical importance of the Nile 4iver in order to understand this beautiful sonnet' )istorically# )istorically# river Nile is said to be the cradle of one of the oldest civili5ations civili5ations in the world6 the Nile valley civili5ation or the 7gyptian civili5ation which developed alongside the Nile 4iver' 2eographically# it is the longest river in frica as well as in the world' The Nile 4iver has two branches' ne is the 8hite Nile +the longest branch, which originates in the "a.e 9ictoria and the other branch is the :lue Nile which originates in the "a.e Tana in 7thiopia' lthough shorter than the 8hite Nile# the :lue Nile contributes more than ;pe.e who undertoo. an e&pedition to the interiors of the Aar. ?ontinent as it was then called' )aving said that# now I am going to analy5e the poem line by line so that you can get a better understanding understanding of the poem' The poet begins the sonnet with the line “>on of the ld @oon/@ountains fricanC” In this line the poet personi$es the Nile as the “son” of the old frican @oon/@ountains' In other words# The Nile originates from the @oon @ountains  Dust li.e li.e the 4iver @ahaweli @ahaweli originates originates from the the >ri Pada Pada or the dams dams Pea. Pea. @ountain' s I mentioned earlier# the two branches of the 4iver Nile# the 8hite Nile and the :lue Nile are said to originate from the two la.es/ "a.e 9ictoria and "a.e Tana in 7thiopia' )owever# these la.es are also# in turn# fed by streams 0owing from the mountains'  Therefore#  Therefore# it was di%cult di%cult to ascertain ascertain the true source source of the the Nile 4iver although although it was historically historically associated with the legendary “@oon/@ountains” # so called may be due to their semi/circular semi/circular shape or because they were snow/capped mountains' )owever# the e&act origin of the Nile 4iver remains uncertain as the two la.es are fed by so many tributaries' (ou might also wonder what poetic techniEues are used in this particular line' ne techniEue is inversion where the word order is changed or inverted' )ere# the position of the adDective “frican” has been inverted as it normally comes before the head noun# in this case# @oon/@ountains' nother techniEue is personi$cation' The river is personi$ed as the son of the @oon/@ountains which are li.e parents'  The ne&t line line is “?hief “?hief of the Pyramid and ?rocodile”' ?rocodile”' 8hy is the Nile called the the ?hief of the Pyramid and ?rocodileF s you .now the ancient 7gyptians built pyramids as tombs for the Paraohs +their .ings, and Eueens' These tombs were made with huge bloc.s of stones which were transported through the Nile river in barges to the pyramid sites' It would have been impossible otherwise to transport these stone bloc.s through the rugged desert lands stretching into hundreds of miles' Thus it is right to call the Nile the ?hief of the pyramids' Now to the crocodiles' Perhaps you may be aware that the 4iver Nile is the home to the largest species of crocodiles in the world' 7specially# the ban.s of the Nile are teeming with these huge crocodiles who are also associated with the 2od siris legends' s such we cannot say that the poet has used e&aggeration or hyperbole in this line' )owever# )owever# the poet has used the techniEue techniEue of contrast here as the Pyramids Pyramids are non/living things while the crocodiles are living things' In the third line the poet says “we call thee fruitful and that very while”' The poet rightly calls the Nile fruitful since it is the river that sustains life in the Nile 9alley not only by providing food from agriculture and $shing but also by providing them with a mode of transport and also by serving as a playground for water sports' The Nile itself was considered as a symbol of fertility# as according to the 7gyptian mythology# the manhood of the slain King siris was supposed to be eaten by a crocodile so that his wife who was searching for the scattered body parts of the King could not resurrect him into life as that part was missing' In this line# the poet uses an adDective “fruitful” “fruitful” as a noun' “Thee” means an old term for “you”'  The third third line is a run/on run/on line meaning that it lin.s with with the fourth line which reads reads as “ “ desert $lls our seeingGs inward span”' )ere the poet refers to his imagination which $lls

H with a dersert' Imagination is sometimes called the “third eye” but here the poet calls it “seeingGs inward span”' "iterally it means the inner dimension of our vision or imagination' Ta.en together this line means that our imagination is $lled with a desert while we wonder at the fruitfulness if the river' Thus# fruitfulness and barrenness e&ist side by side# another wonder of nature' In the ne&t line the poet says “Nurse of the swart nations since the world began#”' It means the river Nile has nourished the dar. nations or the fricans since time immemorial' The Nile river has given life not only to one nation but to several countries through which it 0ows'  The ne&t line line starts with with a rhetorical rhetorical Euestion' Euestion' “rt “rt thou so fruitfulF” fruitfulF” This is is followed by by another rhetorical Euestion6 “or dost thou beguile!>uch men to honour thee# who# worn with toil#!4est for a space twi&t ?airo and AecanF” )ere Keats may be referring to temples dedicated to siris which are scattered along the ban.s of the 4iver' ccording to the legends# Isis# the wife of siris# built those temples to enshrine various parts of his slain body scattered along the Nile by his brother >eth who murdered him' The poet in these lines wonders whether the river Nile has a certain magical charm that ma.es people consider it as a holy river li.e the 2angese river in India which is the most sacred river to the )indus' The poet also sees the 4iver having a rest between ?airo and Aecan' ?airo is the place where the river ends and Aecan must be the place where it begins' )owever we get confused here since the word Aecan in 7gyptian lore refers to a group of  constellations +H to be e&act, and thus meaning the river is having a rest between land and s.y which does not ma.e much sense' 8as Keats referring to the Aeccan plateau in the central India from whence begin rivers such as Narmada and TaptiF Thus can it be a geographical geographical inaccuracyF I invite you to consider these Euestions' Euestions' 7ven the writers of the e boo. issued by the NI7 have made the mista.e of identifyi identifying ng Aeccan plateau as the source of the Nile 4iver  a glaring mista.e indeed# since we live in a world far more advanced +in terms of technology and .nowledge, than that of KeatsG' >o far +in the octave,# Keats has treated treated the Nile reverently or respectfully' respectfully' )owever# from the line number - which starts the sestet# we can see a LvoltaG or a turn in the line of thought6 The poetGs attitude to the Nile 4iver changes from one of reverence to a realistic one' “ may dar. fancies errC They surely doM” 8hat does this line meanF 8ell# literally it means that fancy or imagination can mislead us' This line reminds us of a similar line in de to Nightingale by Keats6 dieuC the fancy cannot cheat so well  s she is famd to do# deceiving elf' )ere also Keats is being critical of his own habit of day/dreaming or Lnegative capabilityG as he calls it' ccording to Keats# negative capability is Lwhen man is capable of being in uncertainties' @ysteries# doubts# without any irritable reaching after fact and reason' )owever# he also

 appreciated reality or LtruthG as he calls it' This is aptly e&pressed in his Lde to the 2recian 3rnG when he says# :eauty is truth# truth beauty#Othat is all  (e  (e .now on earth# earth# and all ye need to .now' .now'

 Thus# the poet poet now begins to doubt his “dar. fancies” fancies” or his romantic romantic imagination imagination which too. him to the e&otic lands of ancient 7gypt of Pyramids# Pharaohs and the great Nile steeped in legends' )e now becomes more Ldown/to/earthG and begins to e&plore the 4iver from an artistic or aesthetic point of view' view' Ne&t he says 6 Tis ignorance that ma.es a barren waste f all beyond itselfG )ere he may be wondering at his own ignorance or the ignorance of the 7uropeans whose Ldar. fanciesG about frica consisted mainly of vast deserts and giant pyramids'  The poet has even as.ed as.ed “rt “rt thou so fruitfulF” fruitfulF” earlier' earlier' This obsession obsession with desert# desert# according to Keats# is due to LignoranceG as Nile valley is surely a fertile landscape# so fertile that it gave birth to the $rst human civili5ation' In the last few lines we can see the typical Keatsian language which is sensuous and very much alive to the beauty# sounds and smells of nature'  Thou dost bedew bedew 2reen rushes li.e our rivers# and dost taste  The pleasant sunrise' 2reen 2reen isles hast hast thou too# nd to the sea as happily dost haste'  The poet begins begins to see the 4iver 4iver in all its its resplendent resplendent beauty in its maDestic Dourney Dourney towards the sea' )e compares the Nile to “our rivers” whose green rushes or the plants with long leaves are decorated with dew or drops of mist' This is a beautiful visual image that appeals to our eyes' The river also tastes Lpleasant sunriseG' This is a combination of  visual and gustatory images' The river also contains “green isles”' The repetition of LgreenG produces an eQect of lush greenery which contrasts with the repetition of LdesertG in the octave'  The sonnet appropria appropriately tely ends with the line6 nd to the sea as happily dost haste' I am tempted to believe that the word LhappilyG contains a pun or word play since L)apiG was the 2od of the annual 0ooding in 7gyptian 7gyptian mythology' mythology'  The poem is written written in elevated elevated language and and it is rich in meaning despite despite the fact fact that Keats wrote this poem in a friendly sonnet competition with "eigh )unt and >helly on  *ebruary *ebruary 1;1; at )unts house in "isson 2rove 2 rove with a 1< minute time limit'

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s a nature poem “To the Nile” ma.es us appreciate the beauty of a river and its value as a life giving source' 8e also learn how the people in ancient times worshipped the river as a 2od or a gift of nature' 8e also get some momentary pleasure by loo.ing at the lush greenery and the beauty of the river in the morning' The poem thus helps us to appreciate appreciate the fertility and the beauty of rivers at a time when they are being increasingly polluted due to industriali5ation'

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