The River of Life
by Thomas Campbell
The more we live, more brief appear
Our life’s succeeding stages;
A day to childhood seems a year,
And years like passing ages.The gladsome current of our youth,
Ere passion yet disorders,
Steals lingering like a river smooth
Along its grassy borders.But as the careworn cheek grows wan,
And sorrow’s shafts fly thicker,
Ye stars, that measure life to man,
Why seem your courses quicker?When joys have lost their bloom and breath,
And life itself is vapid,
Why, as we reach the Falls of Death
Feel we its tide more rapid?It may be strange-yet who would change
Time’s course to slower speeding,
When one by one our friends have gone,
And left our bosoms bleeding?Heaven gives our years of fading strength
Indemnifying fleetness;
And those of youth, a seeming length,
Proportion’d to their sweetness.
Summary of The River of Life
- Popularity of “The River of Life”: “The River of Life” by Thomas Campbell, a Scottish poet, and writer, is an interesting piece. It first appeared in his first book, The Pleasures of Hope, in 1799. The uniqueness of this poetic output lies in the weird thought that the poet identifies the optimistic streak in old age as having fleeting years.
- “The River of Life” As a Representative of Time, Life and Old Age: The poet opens the poem with the consciousness that when we start enjoying life and live it fully, it seems that it is becoming short. While in childhood, it seems a long time, in youth it flees but he says that it happens in the youthful period when it seems that that life is like having grassy borders on the river bank. It seems that when life wanes and times seem to shorten it, the question of what course a man should take looms large in this background. The poet further states that the question of the rapid death as well as the fleeting time seem critical but sometimes it seems strange that a bosom friend leaves us lugubrious while God gives us strength to tolerate it and feel the sweetness in this fleeting time.
- Major Themes in “The River of Life”: Time, old age, and God’s omnipotence are three major themes of this poem. The poem asks questions about time, its rapid passing, death, and life, stating that it seems strange that when we enjoy the most, time flees and when we feel pains, it stops or becomes sluggish. Sometimes even best friends leave us in our old age, and in old age, it seems that time is passing very fast. This shows that God is all-powerful that He has made this fleeting quality of time sweet for us.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used In The River of Life
literary devices help writers make their poetic rendition impressive and attractive. Thomas Campbell has also used some literary devices in this poem whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ and /e/ in “The more we live, more brief appear” the sound of /e/ in “Steals lingering like a river smooth” and again the sound of /a/ in “It may be strange-yet who would change.”
- Alliteration: The poem shows the use of alliteration in the shape of initial consonant sounds of the neighboring words such as the sound of /s/ in “slower speeding.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /g/ and /n/ in “It may be strange-yet who would change” and the sound of /m/ and /r/ in “The more we live, more brief appear.”
- 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;
The gladsome current of our youth,
Ere passion yet disorders,
Steals lingering like a river smooth
Along its grassy borders.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Thomas Campbell has used imagery in this poem such as “The gladsome current of our youth”, “Ere passion yet disorders” and “Heaven gives our years of fading strength.”
- Parallelism:
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poet has used the extended metaphor of time here to highlight youth and old age.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of symbols such as Heaven, youth, old age, and death to highlight the reality of life.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The River of Life
Poetic devices make poems unique in structure and rhyming pattern. The analysis of the poetic devices used in this poem shows this fact is as follows.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows the use of descriptive diction with a serious and tragic tone.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem strictly follows ABAB rhyme scheme in all of its stanzas.
- Quatrain: The poem shows the use of a quatrain, a four-lined Persian borrowed stanza.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are total six stanzas with each having four verses.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “The River of Life” are appropriate to quote when talking about the blessings of Heaven.
Heaven gives our years of fading strength
Indemnifying fleetness;
And those of youth, a seeming length,
Proportion’d to their sweetness.
