Text analysis
“Virginia”
by Thomas Stearns Eliot
Approaching Literary Genres p. 42
Millennium
FOCUS ON THE
Virginia
Red river, red river,
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through the mocking-bird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river river river
MEANING
In this poem Eliot uses a river in Virginia as a
metaphor for life flowing slowly but unceasingly,
running its course until it doesn't anymore. He
hints that the Gate awaits each of us. He hints
that we live, but decay and try to slow time down
so we can live more.
1. The poem begins with the image of the red
river flowing slowly. Highlight in blue the
examples that refer to the river.
•
•
•
•
2.
•
•
“Slow flow”(l.2);
“still as a river” (l.3)
“Still” (l.4)
The river is seen as calm and still.
What other physical features of Virginia are
mentioned in the poem. Highlight them in yellow.
First of all the great river Mississippi , then
the hills (“Still hills”, l. 6) and various kinds
of trees(“Purple trees/White trees” ll. 7-8).
The description is dominated by the
presence of heat of this Southern State.
(“heat is silence” l.2, “Will heat move”, l.4)
Virginia
Red river, red river,
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through the mocking-bird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river river river
FOCUS ON THE
MEANING
3.
Colour is important throughout the
poem. Highlight in red all the references
to colours.
•
“Red river” (ll.1, 13)”, “Purple trees/White
trees” (ll. 7-8).
4.
One of the themes of the poem is
slowness and immobility. Which other
words and images express this? Highlight
them in green.
“Slow flow”, (l. 2) “No will is still as a river
/Still ” (ll. 3-4), “Still hills” (l.6); “White
trees, wait, wait, / Delay, decay” (ll. 8-9);
“Never moving” (l.10)
•
• FOCUS ON ALLITERATION
5.
AND ASSONANCE
Alliteration means the repetition of the same (especially initial) consonant
sound/s. Highlight in pink the lines that contain repetitions, underlining the
alliterating sounds.
Red river Red river
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through the mocking-bird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river river river
l. 1
l.7
l.8
l.9
l.10
l.13
• FOCUS ON ALLITERATION
6.
•
•
AND ASSONANCE
Now look at the following consonant sounds and match them with the alliterating
words in the poem, underlining them line by line:
m l s (s, as in “say”)
t d w r ng s (s, as in “cheese”)
m:
l:
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
l.10
l.11
l.12
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Heard once? Still hills
Delay, decay. Living, living,
l.2
l.3
l.4
l.6
l.9
• FOCUS ON ALLITERATION
6.
•
•
AND ASSONANCE
Now look at the following consonant sounds and match them with the alliterating
words in the poem, underlining them line by line:
m l s (s, as in “say”)
t d w r ng s (s, as in “cheese”)
s (say):
Slow flow heat is silence
l.2
t:
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
l.7
l.8
d:
Red river, red river
Delay, decay. Living, living
l.1
l.9
Slow flow heat is silence
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
l.2
l. 7
l.8
w:
• FOCUS ON ALLITERATION
6.
•
•
AND ASSONANCE
Now look at the following consonant sounds and match them with the alliterating
words in the poem, underlining them line by line:
m l s (s, as in “say”)
t d w r ng s (s, as in “cheese”)
r:
ng:
Red river, red river
Red river river river
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
s (cheese): No will is still as a river
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
l.1
l.13
l.9
l.10
l.3
l.7
• FOCUS ON ALLITERATION
7.
AND ASSONANCE
Highlight in grey the assonances (similar vowel sounds) in the poem,
underlining them line by line.
Red river, red river
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through the mocking-bird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river river river
• FOCUS ON ALLITERATION
8.
AND ASSONANCE
Though this poem is not, strictly speaking, rhymed, it has a few lines that may
be said to end with rhymes . Highlight in violet other examples.
Red river, red river
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through the mocking-bird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river river river
• FOCUS ON ALLITERATION
9.
AND ASSONANCE
The poem’s rich texture of sounds is also given by the presence of internal
rhymes, that is, rhyming words which are found within the lines and not in
the more usual final position. Circle them in the poem
Red river, red river
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through the mocking-bird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thoughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river river river