After the flood corrections

W.S. Merwins After the flood, on a superficial level is a

straightforward narrative poem and that deals purely with the
aftermath of a flood caused by the overflowing of a river. Through the
use of monologue the poet brings out his appreciation for the beauty
created by the river and its destructive and powerful nature whilst
highlighting the underlying theme of balance and tranquility.
The title of the poem itself directly foreshadows the contents of the
poem and indulges the reader to continue reading. Merwin subtly
highlights the importance and the gravity of the flood by identifying it
as the flood. The definite article the refers to a specific flood out of
the many floods that have occurred thus pinpointing it and giving it
great significance. The word flood reverberates an uncontrollable,
overpowering, chaotic event that destroys everything in its path.
the only character in the poem is the observer or the narrator, he
provides the reader with his thoughts and feeling in the form of an
monologue
However, the narrator seems to be reliable to a certain degree since he
shows expertise of Jersey and the history of the park where even in
the summer the river is at least two feet higher than it is on our side
and recalls certain memories of the place, indicating his experience,
where things he felt he must surely remember, they looked so
familiar. The narrator is reminiscent of this flood, evident from the use
of the pat tense, flashbacks and nostalgic tone. Merwin describes the
river as though it has a split personality; one that is the exotic
looking park and river in the summer which creates an oneric image
of the park dwell in our minds and the other is the miserable beastlike terror that sweeps everything in its path away. Thus allowing the
river to act as a microcosm of the over arching theme of balance. The
delicate balance between life and death is verging two feet higher at
the bends of the river, where its beauty lies, on the brink of disaster.
We are also given the sense that we need to respect nature due to its
sheer power. Merwin gives us a sense of the magnitude if the floods
destruction when he describes the rivers damage as dark foliage
stretched crosswide through the park. Merwins description of the
rivers sheer power continues after he climbs the dike, from where he
sees the swollen water which seemed quitter then he expected.
The dike represent mans flawed attempts to restrain nature since their
purpose is to restrain water bodies. Finally, Merwin shows us man the
result of mans futile efforts to control nature by presenting the
druken creature as a victim of nature, thus further reinforcing the
idea that man cannot tame nature. The narrator makes sure that we

completely comprehend his point using the high-water line, which

symbolizes natures wrath towards those who try to challenge or
provoke it such as the drunken creature
Balance is also conveyed through the structure of the poem. Merwin
remains calm while describing the setting. There is a sense of
calmness in the tone of the poet, which is also conveyed through his
punctuation while facing the visual predicament before him. This is
balanced by the form of the poem, free verse, where there are no
paragraph breaks which set a sense of the intensity of the situation, a
sense of chaos along with spontaneity and unpredictability. This
accompanied by the steady, deliberate meter that constructs an
ambiance of serenity and oneiricity, creates balance.
Also integrated into the poem is the nature of misfortune.
Through the poem the poet tries to make us recognize and appreciate
what we have. The nature of misfortune forces us to pay attention to
what we lost but we forget to cherish how much we have been
spared. By highlighting detail like the old coat the Merwin indicates
to us to pay attention to even the small things that we deem
insignificant. Merwin does this by composing a visual of the destruction
caused by the river. It is cold, like reflected by the lack of a rhyme
scheme in the poem. Merwin uses hyberbole in phrases like swollen
river and by calling the river a beast or maybe a creature to convey
to the reader the intensity of colossal damage caused by the river. The
poets expertise on the area are both a blessing and a curse. He is
blessed to have seen its beauty but a curse since he can now gauge
the intensity of the flood. Thus stressing the human nature taking for
grated what is familiar like fish[ing] or climb[ing]. The amazing
thing that Merwin is conveying to the reader is that it is to enjoy the
small moments.
Despite this the poet is able to create an impression of warmth and
security his is achieved from the narrative of the observers walk and
use of diction like familiar along with a rare occurrence of a comma
in this poem for emphasis on the word. A sense of security is also
created by the comparisons that between the past and the present. He
mentions that the swollen water was more quite and now it
seamed noisy again. The poet is trying to say that even during the
time of the flood the place was clam and oneric but the aftermath of
the flood caused commotion. It is only after we have lost something do
we start to value it.
In this poem the Merwin uses structure and the theme of dichotomy to
convey to the reader a message of delicate balance between

everything causing bliss to only truly exist in the balance and the
influence of the nature of misfortune on the human nature which forces
us to appreciate what we have only after we loose it.