Down the River
Down the River - meaning Summary
Companionable Rural Solitude
A weary narrator finds quiet contentment living simply with his dog along river camps. The poem sketches routines of shared meals, fishing, nights by the fire and mutual, unspoken understanding. Rather than lament past sorrows, he accepts solitude and the dog’s steady companionship as enough. The narrator’s modest pleasures and tolerance of his own faults underline a theme of pragmatic, companionable rural solitude and emotional survival through loyal company.
Read Complete AnalysesI’ve done with joys an’ misery, An’ why should I repine? There’s no one knows the past but me An’ that ol’ dog o’ mine. We camp an’ walk an’ camp an’ walk, An’ find it fairly good; He can do anything but talk, An’ he wouldn’t if he could. We sits an’ thinks beside the fire, With all the stars a-shine, An’ no one knows our thoughts but me An’ that there dog o’ mine. We has our Johnny-cake an’ scrag, An’ finds ’em fairly good; He can do anything but talk, An’ he wouldn’t if he could. He gets a ’possum now an’ then, I cooks it on the fire; He has his water, me my tea What more could we desire? He gets a rabbit when he likes, We finds it pretty good; He can do anything but talk, An’ he wouldn’t if he could. I has me smoke, he has his rest, When sunset’s gettin’ dim; An’ if I do get drunk at times, It’s all the same to him. So long’s he’s got me swag to mind, He thinks that times is good; He can do anything but talk, An’ he wouldn’t if he could. He gets his tucker from the cook, For cook is good to him, An’ when I sobers up a bit, He goes an’ has a swim. He likes the rivers where I fish, An’ all the world is good; He can do anything but talk, An’ he wouldn’t if he could.
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