Wilderness Rivers [1948]
Elizabeth Coatsworth (1893-1986)
There are rivers
that I know,
born of ice
and melting snow,
white with rapids,
swift to roar,
with no farms
along their shore,
with no cattle
come to drink
at a staid
and welcoming brink,
with no millwheel,
ever turning,
in that cold
relentless churning.
Only deer
and bear and mink
at those shallows
come to drink,
only paddles,
swift and light,
flick that current
in their flight.
I have felt
my heart beat high,
watching
with exultant eye,
those pure rivers
which have known
no will, no purpose
but their own.
staid: quiet and settled
Questions for Discussion
1. What is the speaker’s attitude toward wilderness rivers?
A) She is afraid of them.
B) She appreciates them.
C) She thinks only wild animals should use them.
D) She wishes more people would make use of them.
2. This poem is written from the point of view of a speaker who
A) is afraid of what she describes.
B) is unaffected by what she describes.
C) has wanted to experience what she describes.
D) has personally witnessed what she describes.
3. The speaker says that there are no farms, cattle, or millwheel near the river in order to show
A) how people want to tame the wilderness rivers.
B) that the wilderness rivers are untouched by people.
C) how people should behave near the wilderness rivers.
D) that the wilderness rivers are too cold for people to use.
4. Reread these lines from the poem:
those pure rivers
which have known
no will, no purpose
but their own.
These lines contain an example of
A) hyperbole
B) onomatopoeia
C) personification
D) simile