by John Ashbery

    Far from the Rappahannock， the silent

    Danube moves along toward the sea.

    The brown and green Nile rolls slowly

    Like the Niagara's welling descent.

    Tractors stood on the green banks of the Loire

    Near where it joined the Cher.

    The St. Lawrence prods¹ among black stones

    And mud. But the Arno is all stones.

    Wind ruffles² the Hudson's

    Surface. The Irawaddy is overflowing³.

    But the yellowish， gray Tiber

    Is contained within steep banks. The Isar

    Flows too fast to swim in， the Jordan's water

    Courses over the flat land. The Allegheny and its boats

    Were dark blue. The Moskowa is

    Gray boats. The Amstel flows slowly.

    Leaves fall into the Connecticut as it passes

    Underneath⁴. The Liffey is full of sewage，

    Like the Seine， but unlike

    The brownish-yellow Dordogne.

    Mountains hem⁵ in the Colorado

    And the Oder is very deep， almost

    As deep as the Congo is wide.

    The plain banks of the Neva are

    Gray. The dark Sa？ne flows silently.

    And the Volga is long and wide

    As it flows across the brownish land. The Ebro

    Is blue， and slow. The Shannon flows

    Swiftly between its banks. The Mississippi

    Is one of the world's longest rivers， like the Amazon.

    It has the Missouri for a tributary⁶.

    The Harlem flows amid factories

    And buildings. The Nelson is in Canada，

    Flowing. Through hard banks the Dubawnt

    Forces its way. People walk near the Trent.

    The landscape around the Mohawk stretches away；

    The Rubicon is merely a brook⁷.

    In winter the Main

    Surges； the Rhine sings its eternal song.

    The Rh？ne slogs along through whitish banks

    And the Rio Grande spins tales of the past.

    The Loir bursts its frozen shackles⁸

    But the Moldau's wet mud ensnares it.

    The East catches the light.

    Near the Escaut the noise of factories echoes

    And the sinuous⁹ Humboldt gurgles wildly.

    The Po too flows， and the many-colored

    Thames. Into the Atlantic Ocean

    Pours the Garonne. Few ships navigate¹⁰

    On the Housatonic， but quite a few can be seen

    On the Elbe. For centuries

    The Afton has flowed.

    If the Rio Negro

    Could abandon its song， and the Magdalena

    The jungle flowers， the Tagus

    Would still flow serenely¹¹， and the Ohio

    Abrade¹² its slate¹³ banks. The tan Euphrates would

    Sidle silently across the world. The Yukon

    Was choked with ice， but the Susquehanna still pushed

    Bravely along. The Dee caught the day's last flares¹⁴

    Like the Pilcomayo's carrion¹⁵ rose.

    The Peace offered eternal fragrance¹⁶

    Perhaps， but the Mackenzie churned livid mud

    Like tan chalk-marks. Near where

    The Brahmaputra slapped swollen¹⁷ dikes

    And the Pechora？ The S？o Francisco

    Skulks¹⁸ amid gray， rubbery nettles¹⁹. The Liard's

    Reflexes are slow， and the Arkansas erodes²⁰

    Anthracite hummocks²¹. The Paraná stinks²².

    The Ottawa is light emerald green

    Among grays. Better that the Indus fade

    In steaming sands！ Let the Brazos

    Freeze solid！ And the Wabash turn to a leaden

    Cinder²³ of ice！ The Mara？ón is too tepid²⁴， we must

    Find a way to freeze it hard. The Ural

    Is freezing slowly in the blasts. The black Yonne

    Congeals²⁵ nicely. And the Petit-Morin

    Curls up on the solid earth. The Inn

    Does not remember better times， and the Merrimack's

    Galvanized. The Ganges is liquid snow by now；

    The Vyatka's ice-gray. The once-molten Tennessee s

    Curdled²⁶. The Japurá is a pack of ice. Gelid

    The Columbia's gray loam²⁷ banks. The Don's merely

    A giant icicle. The Niger freezes， slowly.

    The interminable Lena plods²⁸ on

    But the Purus' mercurial²⁹ waters are icy， grim

    With cold. The Loing is choked with fragments of ice.

    The Weser is frozen， like liquid air.

    And so is the Kama. And the beige， thickly flowing

    Tocantins. The rivers bask³⁰ in the cold.

    The stern Uruguay chafes³¹ its banks，

    A mass of ice. The Hooghly is solid

    Ice. The Adour is silent， motionless.

    The lovely Tigris is nothing but scratchy ice

    Like the Yellowstone， with its osier-clustered banks.

    The Mekong is beginning to thaw³² out a little

    And the Donets gurgles beneath the

    Huge blocks of ice. The Manzanares gushes³³ free.

    The Illinois darts³⁴ through the sunny air again.

    But the Dnieper is still ice-bound. Somewhere

    The Salado propels irs floes， but the Roosevelt's

    Frozen. The Oka is frozen solider

    Than the Somme. The Minho slumbers³⁵

    In winter， nor does the Snake

    Remember August. Hilarious³⁶， the Canadian

    Is solid ice. The Madeira slavers

    Across the thawing³⁷ fields， and the Plata laughs.

    The Dvina soaks up the snow. The Sava's

    Temperature is above freezing. The Avon

    Carols noiselessly. The Dr？me presses

    Grass banks； the Adige's frozen

    Surface is like gray pebbles³⁸.

    Birds circle the Ticino. In winter

    The Var was dark blue， unfrozen. The

    Thwaite， cold， is choked with sandy ice；

    The Ardèche glistens³⁹ feebly through the freezing rain.

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