Literary notes about river (AI summary)
The term "river" in literature is versatile, functioning both as a tangible natural landscape and a rich symbol of life’s flow and transitions. In works like Mark Twain’s narratives ([1], [2], [3]), rivers are depicted as physical boundaries and obstacles—settings for adventures, mishaps, and explorations—while historical and classical texts such as Arrian’s accounts ([4], [5]) and Xenophon’s writings ([6], [7]) use rivers to demarcate territories and guide journeys. On a more symbolic level, sacred texts and mythological epics, for instance in the Bible and the Mahabharata ([8], [9], [10]), transform the river into a metaphor for eternal life and divine providence. Even in modern and whimsical literature, rivers serve as a metaphor for life’s continuous, ever-changing nature, as seen in Jerome K. Jerome’s playful commentary ([11]). Thus, across genres and eras, the river stands as a multifaceted motif, emblematic of nature’s power, the passage of time, and the varied human experiences tied to both literal and metaphorical crossings.
- And I explained all about how we blowed out a cylinder-head at the mouth of White River, and it took us three days to fix it.
— from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Tom had never jumped for the guard at all, but had plunged head-first into the river and dived under the wheel.
— from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain - But this ain't that kind of a river.
— from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain - This Pallacopas is not a river rising from springs, but a canal cut from the Euphrates.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian - There was in the bank of the Hydaspes, a projecting headland, where the river makes a remarkable bend.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian - This river also flows through the city, discharging itself into the Maeander, and is five-and-twenty feet broad.
— from Anabasis by Xenophon - At this point there was a large and thickly populated city named Sittace, at a distance of fifteen furlongs from the river.
— from Anabasis by Xenophon - And he shewed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - Therefore, O river, thyself becoming a human female make us the Vasus, thy children.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - “Hearing the words of the high-souled Lomasa, the son of Pandu reverentially worshipped the river (Ganga), flowing through the firmament.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - I call that downright wisdom, not merely as regards the present case, but with reference to our trip up the river of life, generally.
— from Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome
