About the Poet
James Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that rivaled the popularity of British poets. Lowell graduated from Harvard College in 1838, despite his reputation as a troublemaker, and went on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School. He published his first collection of poetry in 1841 and married Maria White in 1844.
James Russell Lowell was born on February 22, 1819. He was a member of the eighth generation of the Lowell family, the descendants of Percival Lowell. Lowell’s earliest poems were published without remuneration in the Southern Literary Messenger in 1840. A Fable for Critics was one of Lowell’s most popular works, published anonymously in 1848. In 1848, Lowell also published The Biglow Papers, later named by the Grolier Club as the most influential book of 1848.
James Russell Lowell’s writing was influenced by Swedenborgianism, a Spiritualism-infused form of Christianity founded by Emanuel Swedenborg, causing Frances Longfellow to mention that “he has been long in the habit of seeing spirits”. A scholar of linguistics, Lowell was one of the founders of the American Dialect Society. Lowell’s selected works are: A Year’s Life (1841), Miscellaneous Poems (1843), The Biglow Papers (1848), A Fable for Critics (1848), Conversations on the Old Poets (1844), Fireside Travels (1864).
Lowell was an abolitionist, but his opinions wavered concerning African-Americans. He advocated suffrage for blacks, yet he noted that their ability to vote could be troublesome. Freed slaves, he wrote, were “dirty, lazy & lying”. Lowell was also involved in other reform movements.
About the Poem
The poet describes the motion of the fountain during sunlight and moonshine that inspires him to achieve his highest goals in life. He wishes to be happy and cheerful in all situations of life just like the fountain. According to the poet, if a man will be a value-seeker, he must be one by choice. To be a value-seeker, a man must think for himself. Thinking about one’s own values is selfish, but it is good nevertheless.
Structure of the Poem
The Poem
Into the sunshine, Full of the light, Leaping and flashing From morn till night! Into the moonlight, Whiter than snow, Waving so flower-like When the winds blow! Into the starlight, Rushing in spray, Happy at midnight, Happy by day! Ever in motion, Blithesome and cheery, Still climbing heavenward, Never aweary;-- Glad of all weathers, Still seeming best, Upward or downward, Motion thy rest;-- Full of a nature Nothing can tame, Changed every moment, Ever the same;-- Ceaseless aspiring, Ceaseless content, Darkness or sunshine Thy element;-- A Glorious fountain! Let my heart be Fresh, changeful, constant, Upward, like thee!
“The Fountain” is a poem with eight stanzas divided into four lines. It has got a definite rhyming scheme: abcb bdXd bebe aXXX XbXb Xfbf cbab Xaebe.
There are many exclamation marks in the poem which shows that the speaker is excited. He or she has strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem “The Fountain”
Line By Line Analysis Of The Fountain BY-James Russell Lowell
Stanza 1:
Into the sunshine, Full of the light, Leaping and flashing From morn till night!
In the very first stanza, the poet describes how the fountain looks like or the motion in the sunlight. He says in the sunlight, the fountain of the water keeps jumping up out the spring from morning to the end of the day. It seems to shine even more, brighter in the light.
Stanza 2:
Into the moonlight, Whiter than snow, Waving so flower-like When the winds blow!
In the second stanza, the poet describes how the fountain looks like in the moonlight or at night. He compares the water with the snow and flowers, he says that the water looks whiter than the snow at night. He even says that the water which comes out from the spring or fountain looks like a white flower.
Stanza 3:
Into the starlight, Rushing in spray, Happy at midnight, Happy by day!
In the third stanza, the poet describes how the fountain looks like in the starlight. He says that the fountain or the waters looks as if it is sprayed. No matter day or night the fountain stays forever. The poet too wanted to be happy like the fountain.
Stanza 4:
Ever in motion, Blithesome and cheery, Still climbing heavenward, Never aweary;--
The poet says that the fountain stays in motion all the time, it never stops or never gets tired. Just because the water keeps flowing upwards, the poet says that the water climbs the steps to heaven. It says that the fountain is found to be very energetic to flow all the time and it has got the power to be happy.
Stanza 5:
Glad of all weathers, Still seeming best, Upward or downward, Motion thy rest;--
No matter what the weather is the fountain stays happy forever. No matter what the direction is whether upwards or downward, it find rest and happiness in that.
Stanza 6:
Full of a nature Nothing can tame, Changed every moment, Ever the same;--
The fountain is a part of nature, no one can take it in their own control or no one can stop it from flowing. It keeps flowing upward, the water flows in a perfect ratio that it always looks similar.
Stanza 7:
Ceaseless aspiring, Ceaseless content, Darkness or sunshine Thy element;--
The fountain keeps flowing water upward continuously. It seems as if he is very happy and satisfied by the heights to which the water reaches. Whether it is day or night the fountain seems to be happy always. It teaches us what the atmosphere of nature is we should always stay happy and satisfied.
Stanza 8:
A Glorious fountain! Let my heart be Fresh, changeful, constant, Upward, like thee!
The speaker is very excited. He has got strong feelings on the subject that is described in the poem. The fountain inspires him to achieve his highest goals in life. He wishes to be happy and cheerful in all situations of life just like the fountain.
Literary Device
•Personification:-the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
- “waving so flower-like”
- “leaping and flashing”
- “still climbing heavenward never aweary”
•Alliteration:–the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
- Ceaseless content
- changeful, constant
•Metaphor:– a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
- Into the moonlight,
Whiter than snow,
Waving so flower-like
When the winds blow!
- Into the starlight,
Rushing in spray,
Happy at midnight,
Happy by day!
•Enjambment:- the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
- Let my heart be
Fresh, changeful, constant,
•Conversion:-
- Waving so flower-like
•Inversion:-
- Upward or downward,
•Refrain:-
- Into the starlight,
Theme of the poem
In the poem “The Fountain“, the theme is nature. The poem is full of images we see it when he described the fountain.
James Russell Rowell in the poem describes the fountain, and what makes the waterfall? And how does it look like?. He describes the moment of waterfall “Full of a nature nothing changed every moment, ever the same”. He also describes his emotions when he sees the fountain “Let my heart be Fresh, changeful, constant, Upward, like thee!”. He wishes to be happy and cheerful in all situations of life just like the fountain.
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