Row Row Row Your Boat Analysis - Literary devices and Poetic devices

Row Row Row Your Boat

Row, row, row your boat
Gently up the creek
If you see a little mouse
Don’t forget to squeak!

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
If you see a crocodile
Don’t forget to scream!

Row, row, row your boat
Gently to the shore
If you see a lion
Don’t forget to roar!

Summary of Row Row Row Your Boat

Popularity of “Row Row Row Your Boat”: Although its ancient origin is still unknown, the earliest ever recorded printing of this song appeared in with Eliphalet Oram Lyte mentioning in his collection, The Franklin Square Song Collection. Yet, he did not disclose information about its composition or adaptation. It, however, continued mesmerizing children across the globe as a nursery rhyme. In Roud Folk Song Index, it falls at 19236 number. The beauty of the short song lies in its melody created by its perfect end rhyme.
“Row Row Row Your Boat” As a Representative of the Joy of Innocence: The poem presents a beautiful scene of rowing the boat with the repetition of rowing. It states that when the supposed children rowing the boat reach some places, they must remember what to do. The first stanza tells the children that if they see a little mouse, they must squeak to enjoy its presence as it is an innocent creature and would not harm them. However, when they go down the stream, they must scream when they come across a crocodile so that they can warn others coming along with them of the harm that the crocodile would cause them. Yet, when they reach a shore and sea a lion, they must be brave to roar and make it realize that they are there also. This means that the lions often do not harm the people seeing them in the eyes.
Major Themes in “Row Row Row Your Boat”: Pure joys of innocence, excitement, and alertness toward the environment are three major themes of this short song. The joy of innocence lies in the repetition of rowing which means to continue rowing the boat. The excitement lies in meeting different creatures at different places, showing a reaction of enjoyment, alertness, or warning. The theme of alertness lies in the response that the poet asks the readers to give to different creatures, such as the mouse, crocodile, or lion, according to the nature of the creature.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Row Row Row Your Boat

Anonymous poet has used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices used in this song are as follows.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “Gently down the stream” and the sound of /o/ in “Row, row, row your boat.”
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /r/ in “row, row, row.”
Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /r/ in “Row, row, row your boat” and the sound of /t/ in “Don’t forget to squeak.”
Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
If you see a crocodile
Don’t forget to scream!

Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. The irony in the song lies in the last stanza where the advice is to roar in response to the lion, which means to show courage, and that too in front of a lion which could be alerted with this roan and may harm the person rowing the boat.
Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Anonymous poet has used imagery in this poem, such as “If you see a little mouse”, “If you see a crocodile” and “Don’t forget to roar!.”
Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as a mouse, a crocodile, and a lion to show different forms of nature.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Row Row Row Your Boat

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

Diction and Tone: Diction means to use the type of language, and tone means the underlying feelings. The poem shows informal diction with a jubilant and exciting tone.
Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain!
Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem, with each comprising four verses.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote or allude to warn the children about the lurking danger of wild animals.