The Victoria Falls

So hushed, so hot, the broad Zambesi lies
Above the Falls, and on her weedy isles
Swing antic monkeys swarm malignant flies,
And seeming-lazy lurk the crocodiles.
But somewhere down the river does the hush
Become a sibilance that hints a sigh,
A murmur, mounting as the currents rush
Faster, and while the murmur is a cry
The cry becomes a shout, the shout a thunder
Until the whole Zambesi water pour
Into the earth’s side, agitating under
Infinite spray mists, pounding the world’s floor.
            Wrapped in this liquid turmoil who can say
            Which is the mighty echo, which the spray?

Muriel Spark (1918 – 2006)
Written 1948

This poem created interest for me because many years ago I did spend time working in South Africa but never went to see these famous falls. In contrast Muriel  Spark went to Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) from Scotland at the age of 19 shortly before her marriage and this poem is from personal experience.

The hot docile river sets the scene in the first four lines where the seeming-lazy crocodiles lie. I was also interested in the term sibilance. And the way she used this word to capture the mood of the river.

But somewhere down the river does the hush
Become a sibilance that hints a sigh,
A murmur, mounting as the currents rush

And then personifies the sound from cry to shout to thunder.

Faster, and while the murmur is a cry
The cry becomes a shout, the shout a thunder

Thunder is the appropriate word it has a nature-generated impact and in the Bantu language the Falls are defined as Mosi-oa-Tunya, “Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises”.

And the whole flow of the poem like the river increases in momentum to the crescendo.

The rhyming couplet at the end of the sonnet integrates the inseparable echo and spray of the waterfall. The liquid turmoil are apt words to define the chaotic visual confusion. This visual confusion, notably between sky and water, can be seen in the paintings by Turner.

Sibilance is a literary device characterized by the repetition of hissing or hushing sounds, often involving the “s,” “z,” “sh,” and “zh” sounds. It’s used in poetry to create specific moods and effects, ranging from a soft, flowing sensation to a harsh, hissing quality. 

Whereas Onomatopoeia the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (such as buzz, hiss)

Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006)^[1] was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.

Wikipedia – Muriel Spark – Wikipedia

About the Falls …

Victoria Falls – Victoria Falls (Lozi: Mosi-oa-Tunya, “Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises”; Tonga: Shungu Namutitima, “Boiling Water”) is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.[2] It is one of the world’s largest waterfalls, with a width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft).. The droplets of spray are profuse and carry oxygen to revitalise the river and surrounds. The region around it has a high degree of biodiversity in both plants and animals

Scottish missionary David Livingstone identified the falls in 1855, naming them Victoria Falls after Queen Victoria.