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ThepoemARiveriswrittenbyA.K.Ramanujan.Inthispoem,thepoethascomparedandcontrastedtheattitudesoftheoldpoetsandthoseofthenewpoetstohumansuffering.Hehascometotheconclusionthatboththegroupsofthepoetsareindifferenttohumansorrowandsuffering.Theirpoetrydosenotreflectsthemiseriesofthehumanbeings.Hehasprovedthispointinthepresentpoem.

TheriverVaikaionwhosebankthehistoriccityofMaduraistandshasbeenmentionedinthepoemsofmanypoets,bothpastandpresent.TheriverisintimatelyassociatedwiththelifeandcultureoftheTamilpeople.Thepeculiarthing,whichappealstothepoets,isthattheriverpresentstwodifferentspectaclesintwodifferentseason.Itiscompletelydryinsummerandfloodedinfullintherainyseason.

Inthispoem,thepoetreferstotheriverVaikaiwhichflowsthroughthecityofMadurai.ThewordMaduraimeansasweetcity.ItisaTamilword.Asamatteroffact,thiscityisthecenterofTamilcultureandlearning.ItisalsoaholycityfulloftemplesincludingthefamousMinaksheetemple.Thepoetshavewrittenmanypoemsonthetemplesandtheriver.Inthepresentpoem,A.K.Ramanujandealswiththeriver.

InthepoemARiver,wegettwopicturesbasedupontwodifferentkindsofdescription.Inthesummer,theriverisalmostempty.Onlyaverythinstreamofwaterflows.Sothesandribsonthebedoftheriverarevisible.Thestonesthatlieonthebedoftheriveralsoexposedtoview.Theportionoftheriverunderthebridgehasalsobeendescribed.Wegetavividpictureoftheriverinthesummerseason.

Thereisalsothepictureoftheriverintherainyseason.Generally,allkindsofpoetshavewrittenaboutitintheirpoems.

Duringtherainyseasonwhenthefloodscronethepeopleobserveitveryanxiously.Theyremembertherisingoftheriverinchbyinchfromtimetotime.Theyrememberhowthestonestepsofthebathingplacearesubmergedonebyone.

Theyseehowthreevillagehousesweredamagedandcarriedoffbythefloods.TheynowhowtwocowsnamedBrindaandGopiwerecarriedaway.Theyalsoknowhowapregnantwomanwasalsodrownedintheriverduringtheflood.Boththeoldandnewpoetshavementionedthesethingsintheirpoems.Butthewaytheyhavedescribedthesethingsintheirpoemsshowsthattheywerenotmuchalivetoorsympatheticwithhuman

suffering.

Theydidnotmentionthenameofthewomanwhowascarryingtwins.Beforetheirbirth,shewasdrownedinthefloodedriver.Atthetimeofdrowning,mostprobablythetwinsmusthavekickedthesidesofherwomb.Shemusthavegotmuchpainoutofthis.Butboththenewpoetsandoldpoetsdidnotrefertoallthesemiseriesofthewomanintheirpoeticcreations.

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Thisbecomesultimatelyclearthattheyarenotsympatheticwithsufferinghumanbeings.Theyaretotallycallousandindifferent.Thiskindofattitudemakestheirpoetryweakandunappealing,dryandcheerless.

Thetoneofthepoemisbasedonsarcasmandirony.Thestructureofthepoemhasbeeninparagraphsandsinglelines.Therearefourlongerverseparagraphsandashorteroneinthebeginning.Thereareonlytwosingleisolatedlines.Thiskindofstructuralarrangementcontributestotheeffectofirony.Italsohelpstograspthemainpointsclearly.Secondly,awordcanbesaidaboutthelanguageusedinthepoem.Itisverysimpleonaccountofwhichthethoughtsequenceofthepoemispresentedunmistakablyandclearly.