The+Niagara+River+(Annie)

By: Annie Rong

What one first notices about Kay Ryan’s poem, // The Niagara River //, is its shortness. The poem is, in fact, only three sentences long broken up into eighteen choppy verses. Yet the poem itself is worth far more words than that. From the beginning, Ryan clearly states that the poem is going to be about the Niagara River and one can interpret it that way. But reading this poem over and over again is like turning over a new page in a book – there’s always something that wasn’t there before. This poem isn’t just about the Niagara River; it’s about the appreciation nature, the passages of time and human folly.

Although there are random occurrences of rhyming throughout this poem, they are too sporadic to follow any rhyme scheme. Nor is there any sort of structure for each line. Perhaps Ryan could not make a three-sentenced poem fit into any sort of existing rhyme or structure categories or maybe this poem was suppose to be read this way, in a sort of rambling almost conversing manner. The speaker of this poem, judging from the words used, sounds like he or she is familiar with the river and is speaking of this river as an acquaintance. This tone of familiarity is one of many endearing qualities about this poem. This argument can also be supported by Ryan’s choice of using “we” when referring to the speaker in the poem.

Yet to completely understand the poem, one must first learn about Ryan’s background. She was born in San Jose, California and graduated from the University of California with a degree in English. From there on out, she taught part-time English at the College of Marin in Kentfield and started writing whenever she could. Unlike other poets, Ryan did not purposely try to write poems. Instead, the poems came to her. First it was her speculations of the mundane aspects of life that prompted her to start writing. Then came her instinct in choosing the right word to match her tone, and thus, her poems were born. She has said that her poems start out much like an oyster, “with an aggravation.” (Poetry Foundation) // The Niagara River // probably did start out this way. The poem can be broken up into three different parts by the beginning and end of each sentence. Each part creates a new idea that somehow refers back to last one and changes it into something a little different. Ryan’s choice of words and comparisons in the beginning make it hard to read this poem in a logical manner. As though the river were a floor, we position our table and chairs upon it, eat, and have conversation. (lines 1-6) Here, she compares the Niagara River to a floor and claims that it’s possible to place tables and chairs on the river to eat and converse. Any sensible person (or those who have tried) would know that it isn’t possible. Ryan, no doubt, knows that. So she couldn’t have meant that in a literal sense, but another way of looking at this is in a figurative way. A floor is not only a place to put furniture, it is also the main support of the house. Everything depends on it and the Niagara River is no different. Every year, the river generates about 4.4 gigawatts of hydroelectricity for those living in both the United States and Canada. During the period before the American Civil War, crossing the river into Canada was a popular option to escape slavery. If we can eat and chitchat thanks to the floor, then we can live better and travel thanks to the Niagara River.

In the second sentence, Ryan starts to bring in the bigger picture. As it moves along, we notice – as calmly as though dining room paintings were being replaced— the changing scenes along the shore. We (lines 7-13) It’s not just about a river; it’s also about the shores and the “changing scenes” along it. The natural way of looking at the second sentence is to think of a river flowing down and to imagine the different animals and vegetations on the shore that it must past through to reach its final destination. But the changing scenes could also symbolize the passing of time. The best example of this is the different seasons. Spring will come and the plants will start anew, summer will rain and these plants will grow, fall will blow and these plants will surrender their leaves to the wind, and then winter will snow and leave these same plants bare for next year’s cycle. The dining room paintings aren’t literally paintings at all because they are just the views outside the window, which changes as the seasons do.

Finally, there’s the third sentence cut up into another six lines. We do know, we do know this is the Niagara River, but it is hard to remember what that means. (lines 13-18) Reading the last part of the poem offers up another perspective of the last part of the second sentence, “the changing scenes / along the shore, We” (lines 12-13). The scenes aren’t changing because of the passage of time, instead they are being forced to change because of the actions of humankind. Deforestation is a serious problem we’re facing. Trees are disappearing at rapid rates all over the world in order to catch up with consumer demands and we are selfishly destroying many areas of nature in order to make room for our growing population. The scenes along the river are changing indeed, transforming from toweing trees into new houses.

“We / do know, we do / know this is the Niagara river, but” (lines 13-16) takes on a more ironic tone as Ryan begins to wrap up her poem. She says that despite the fact that we can distinguish the Niagara River as a river, “it is hard to remember / what that means.” (lines 17-18). As confusing as this ending sounds, it makes perfect sense. We know what a floor is, but do we really appreciate it enough? We claim we love nature but do we protect it from ourselves? The answers are no. This poem shows how much humans can be such hypocrites when it comes to our own conveniences and the Niagara River (along with the rest of nature) is unfortunately helpless in our hands. To put it in a milder sense, could it not be arguable that Ryan is proposing we don't admire the beauty of nature enough? The idea of sublime nature is pervasive in the poem, such as seen in the lines "the changing scenes / along the shore" (lines 12-13).

Looking back, perhaps Ryan did not write her poem with these thoughts in mind. But this point is certainly arguable. Maybe this poem is supposed to urge us to look back on our actions and ponder about them. Ryan’s short poem ends on an uncertain note. There is definitely room for hope but that can also be interpreted as disasters.

Poetry Foundation, comp. "Kay Ryan (1945 - )." // Poetry Foundation //. N.p., 2009. Web. 6 Dec. 2009. . 
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