Summary
‘Small Towns and The River’ by Mamang presents a dusty and gloomy picture of small towns in the first two stanzas. According to the poet, in small towns, every other day news of someone’s death comes and makes one sad. In contrast, the following stanzas, depict the immortality of the river that flows by the towns. The river is permanent in comparison to people living in the towns. Moreover, in the following stanzas, the poet talks about eternal life. The concept of the afterlife and having God as a guide pacifies the poet amidst the death-ridden thoughts which constantly cause pain to her soul.
Structure
Small Towns and The River’ by Mamang consists of four stanzas, each having an irregular line-count. The overall poem doesn’t contain any specific rhyme scheme. But, the rhythm of the poem isn’t monotonous at all. The flow depends on the intricacy of internal rhyming. Moreover, there are a few instances where the poet uses slant rhymes. Apart from that, the metrical scheme of the poem is also irregular. As the syllable count differs in each line, it is hard to frame the lyric in a specific meter. And, in most of the cases, the poet uses the iambic meter accompanied by the anapestic meter.
Literary Devices
‘Small Towns and The River’ by Mamang begins with a paradox. Poets generally associate the idea of death with small towns or any such habitations. In this stanza, there is personification. Here, the poet personifies her “hometown”, “dust”, and “wind”. Moving forward, in “dreadful silence” there is a personal metaphor. Apart from that, the lines of the second stanza, as well as the other stanzas, mostly get connected by the use of enjambment. However, in “sad wreath of tube roses”, the poet uses pathetic fallacy. Along with that, there is an epigram in “Life and death, life and death, / only the rituals are permanent.” In the third stanza, there is a simile in the comparison between the river to a “torrent of grief”. In “torrent of grief” there is a metaphor.
There is a refrain, “The river has a soul” at the beginning of the fifth stanza. Moreover, in “mist on the mountaintops”, there is alliteration. Here, the “m” sound gets repeated. In the following stanza, there is metonymy in “golden east”. And the “house of the sun” contains a circumlocution or periphrasis. However, the last two lines contain another paradox. The meaning of these two lines depends on the idea present in the previous sections of the poem.
Themes
Small Towns and The River’ by Mam ang contains some important themes such as mortality, life vs death, eternity, nature, and spirituality. The theme of mortality haunts the poet the most. Through the symbol of “small towns”, the poet introduces this theme. Moreover, the theme of life vs death is integral to the poetic reflection on mortality. The imagery used to depict this theme can be found in the “wreath of tube roses” and the river that remains constant throughout the poem. In the poem, the river symbolically depicts nature and its permanence. Apart from that, the poet resorts to the cozy bosom of spirituality for recovering from grief. The hope of the afterlife gives the poet peace of mind.
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