Valerie Bloom's poem, "The River" is an interesting short poem.

She describes to us what a river meant to her. The river is to her, many things.
She personifies the river and compares it to many things. What are these things she says of the river?

i. A wanderer, a nomad and a tramp:

A wanderer is a person who likes to move. He does not to stay in one place.

A nomad belongs to a wandering group of people that moves from place to place in search of food or a better environment to stay.

A tramp is like a beggar and a vagabond. He goes from place to place to look for alms and lives off the generosity of kind people. A tramp is normally seen as a lazy bum.

ii. A winder:

The term comes from the word, ‘to wind’. To wind means to move from one side to another in curves. It cuts through soft soils but it goes around hard rocks. As such, it loops and wounds itself on the way down. It does not chart a straight path.

iii. A hoarder:

Just like human beings, a river also likes to keep its secrets and its treasures. So, it hides these in the bed where it is difficult for others to take them away.

iv. A baby:

When a river moves down stream or down a waterfall, gurgling noises are heard. The poet likens this to a baby innocently sucking on its thumb in sheer delight.

v. A singer:

When the river falls through a waterfall, the poet imagines it to be singing and dancing and this joy is spread to the surrounding areas for all to enjoy.

vi.A destroyer:

Finally, for all the joys it gives to us, it can also destroy. During a flood, the river rages and kills. Human beings, animals, houses and vegetation including trees and crops are destroyed.

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Let us have a test exercise on Valerie Bloom’s lively and lovely poem, ‘The River’.
Here goes-
1.       How many stanzas are there in ‘The River’?
a)      5
b)      6
c)       7
d)      8

2.       Pastoral people who move from place to place in search of food and water are called
a)      Campers
b)      Nomads
c)       Caravan people
d)      Vagrants

3.       To be ‘vexed’ means to be
a)      worried
b)      angry
c)       irritated
d)      haunted

4.       What is the most likely reason a river ‘twists and turns’?
a)      river waters move in torrents
b)      river water moves in currents
c)       water moves from left to right
d)      it cannot cut through hard rocks

5.       To ‘gobbled’ means to
a)      eat in slow motion
b)      eat noisily and quickly
c)       eat slowly  in small mouthfuls
d)      eat in an easy relaxed manner

6.       When water goes down our throats, it may
a)      gurgle
b)      gargle
c)       gobble
d)      garble

7.       ‘The River’ uses plenty of metaphors. Which is the following is not a metaphor?
a)      baby
b)      winder
c)       singer
d)      treasures

8.       ‘The River’ is personified with a
a)      female gender
b)      male gender
c)       neutral gender
d)      no gender

9.       The poet describes ‘The River’ as if it is a
a)      monster
b)      person
c)       baby
d)      wanderer

10.   An angry river becomes a monster and
a)      swallows
b)      destroys
c)       gobbles
d)      crushed

submit your answers to my email, undian88@yahoo.com
thank you.

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 Complete the following crosswords. Email your answers here; undian88@yahoo.com

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Mr. Nobody

(Author Unknown)

I know a funny little man,

As quiet as a mouse,

Who does the mischief that is done

In everybody's house!

There's no one ever sees his face,

And yet we all agree

That every plate we break was cracked

By Mr. Nobody.

'Tis he who always tears our books,

Who leaves the door ajar,

He pulls the buttons from our shirts,

And scatters pins afar;

That squeaking door will always

squeak

For, Prithee, don't you see,

We leave the oiling to be done

By Mr. Nobody.

He puts damp wood upon the fire,

That kettles cannot boil;

His are the feet that bring in mud,

And all the carpets soil.

The papers always are mislaid,

Who had them last but he?

There's no one tosses them about

But Mr. Nobody.

The finger-marks upon the door

By none of us are made;

We never leave the blinds unclosed,

To let the curtains fade.

The ink we never spill, the boots

That lying round you see

Are not our boots; they all belong

To Mr. Nobody.

So this poem tells about the character called Mr. Nobody who does not exist. He is just being mentioned as the fall guy and must take all the blame around the house as if he truly exists in every house.

Let us look at the poem again.There are four stanzas. Let us look at the kind of mischief done by Mr. Nobody .

In Stanza 1.
·         He cracks plates.

In Stanza 2.
·         He tears books.
·         He does not close doors properly.
·         He pulls off shirt buttons.
·         He scatters pins.
·         He never oils the door which squeaks.

In Stanza 3
·         He puts damp wood upon the fire.
·         He muddies and soils the carpets.
·         He mislaid the newspapers.
·         He also tosses the papers around.

In Stanza 4
·         He leaves finger marks on the door.
·         He leaves the blinds unclosed.
·         He spills ink.
·         He leaves his books lying all over.

He did most of these nasty things. He also failed in his responsibility to do some chores. These included not oiling the squeaky doors, leaving the blind unclosed that will fade the house curtains and leaving his boots everywhere in the house.

Interestingly, no one has ever seen Mr. Nobody. Yet he is described as a small and quiet person.
When we read this poem, we can reflect the childhood days where oftentimes we behave irresponsibly and like to point fingers at others. We have yet to grow up, take responsibilities and admit our mistakes or own up to our failings.

So, the moral of the story is that everyone must be responsible; for that truly will be a sign that you have grown up.

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The River by Valerie Bloom

The river’s a wanderer, a nomad, a tramp.

He doesn't choose any one place to set up his camp.

The river’s a winder, through valley and hill.

He twists and he turns, he just cannot be still.

The river’s a hoarder and he buries down deep

Those little treasures that he wants to keep.

The river’s a baby, he gurgles and hums

And sounds like he’s happily sucking his thumbs.

The river’s a singer, as he dances along

The countryside echoes the notes of his song.

The river’s a monster, hungry and vexed

He’s gobbled up trees and he’ll swallow you next.

Poet’s biography:

Valerie Bloom was born in 1956 in Jamaica, and she came to England in 1979. Now she travels around United Kingdom and abroad. Her poems is mostly known through her books—her own poems and anthologies she has edited. She also come out with a novels, and her poems had been printed in over 250 anthologies.

Poem analysis:

Subject: This poem is about the poet’s appreciation and perception of a river. The river in this poem is always written with capital letter as it is a proper name.

Theme: The River is beautiful, but capable of causing destruction.

This poem is delivered in an admiring and fearful tone, as the river have the potential to be good or bad and humans have no capability of controlling it. A lot of metaphors are being used along with personification in this poem, such as in the line “The River is a wanderer”.

Stanza 1:

The poet perceives the River as a living thing; in this stanza as a wanderer, a nomad, and a tramp, and it never makes a stop.

Stanza 2:

The River will never stop. Not even when there are obstacles in front of it, it will twists and turns and makes its way through valley and hills.

Stanza 3:

The poet perceives the River as a hoarder; which take and keep anything that it wants in the riverbed.

Stanza 4:

The River is being perceived as a baby. By saying that “he gurgles and hums”, the poet makes it clear that the river is happy; but nevertheless, as the River is a baby, it is unpredictable.

Stanza 5:

In this stanza, the poet perceives the River as a singer and a dancer, and she added that the countryside echoes with the notes of “his” song. This might shows that the River promised people with life.

Stanza 6:

In this last stanza, the River is being perceived as a monster—a hungry and vexed monster. The poet warned that “he” gobbled up trees and he will eventually swallow people, too. This shows the sheer destructive power the River has.

Glossary:

tramp (/træmp/)

 a person with no home, job or money who travels around and asks for money from other people

winder (/ˈwaɪn.dər/)

if a road, path or river winds, it follows a route which turns repeatedly in different directions

hoarder (hɔːrd)

to collect large amounts of something and keep it in a safe, often secret, place

vexed (/vekst/)

difficult to deal with and causing a lot of disagreement and argument

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