In New Zealand poet Lauris Edmond's "Waterfall," a speaker muses on the way that time and aging shape love and relationships. The poem suggests that the inevitability of death imbues the present moment with its intensity and passion, and that people experience the preciousness of life and love more acutely as they age. "Waterfall" first appeared in Edmond's 1975 collection In Middle Air.

• Read the full text of “Waterfall”

• “Waterfall” Summary

• “Waterfall” Themes

  • 

    Time, Aging, and Love

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-24

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Waterfall”

  • Lines 1-3

    I do not ...
    ... of the waterfall

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-6

    in which I ...
    ... fast, fast falling.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-9

    I do not ...
    ... spices the air

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-12

    moss, crushed, gives ...
    ... if for ever.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-15

    It is enough ...
    ... that are shrewd

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-18

    but trustful still, ...
    ... conversation, without nostalgia.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 19-24

    But when you ...
    ... dark pool below.

    

    

    

    

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• “Waterfall” Symbols

  • 

    Water

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-6: “I do not ask for youth, nor for delay / in the rising of time's irreversible river / that takes the jewelled arc of the waterfall / in which I glimpse, minute by glinting minute, / all that I have and all I am always losing / as sunlight lights each drop fast, fast falling.”
    • Lines 11-12: “and water holds our reflections / motionless, as if for ever.”
    • Lines 22-23: “remembering that water, / however luminous and grand, falls fast”
    • Line 24: “and only once to the dark pool below.”

• “Waterfall” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “delay / in”
    • Lines 2-3: “river / that”
    • Lines 3-4: “waterfall / in”
    • Lines 5-6: “losing / as”
    • Lines 8-9: “darkness / where”
    • Lines 9-10: “air / moss”
    • Lines 10-11: “sweetness / and”
    • Lines 11-12: “reflections / motionless”
    • Lines 13-14: “room / and”
    • Lines 14-15: “other / — calling”
    • Lines 15-16: “shrewd / but”
    • Lines 16-17: “years / of”
    • Lines 17-18: “afternoons / in”
    • Lines 19-20: “jauntiness / sinewed”
    • Lines 20-21: “strength / — suddenly”
    • Lines 21-22: “quick / intensity”
    • Lines 23-24: “fast / and”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “minute by glinting minute”
    • Line 5: “all that I have and all I am always losing”
    • Line 6: “fast, fast”
    • Line 8: “darkly in love's green darkness”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “rising,” “irreversible,” “river”
    • Line 3: “jewelled,” “waterfall”
    • Line 4: “glimpse,” “glinting”
    • Line 5: “all,” “all,” “always,” “losing”
    • Line 6: “sunlight,” “lights,” “fast,” “fast,” “falling”
    • Line 7: “do,” “dream,” “you,” “young”
    • Line 8: “might,” “come,” “darkly,” “love's,” “green,” “darkness”
    • Line 9: “dust,” “bracken,” “spices”
    • Line 10: “moss,” “an,” “astringent,” “sweetness”
    • Line 11: “reflections”
    • Line 12: “motionless”
    • Line 13: “enough,” “now,” “come,” “into,” “room”
    • Line 14: “find,” “kindness”
    • Line 15: “calling,” “love,” “shrewd”
    • Line 16: “trustful,” “still,” “face,” “chastened,” “years”
    • Line 17: “careful”
    • Line 18: “conversation,” “nostalgia”
    • Line 19: “jauntiness”
    • Line 20: “sinewed,” “resolution,” “strength”
    • Line 21: “suddenly,” “then”
    • Line 22: “intensity,” “remembering”
    • Line 23: “luminous,” “grand,” “falls,” “fast”
    • Line 24: “only,” “once,” “pool,” “below”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “do,” “youth,” “nor,” “for”
    • Line 2: “rising,” “time's”
    • Line 4: “in,” “which,” “glimpse,” “minute,” “glinting,” “minute”
    • Line 5: “all,” “all,” “always”
    • Line 8: “come,” “love's”
    • Line 9: “dust”
    • Line 16: “face,” “chastened”
    • Line 20: “strength”
    • Line 21: “suddenly,” “then”
    • Line 22: “intensity,” “remembering”

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “do,” “not,” “nor,” “delay”
    • Line 4: “glimpse,” “glinting”
    • Line 5: “all,” “all,” “always”
    • Line 6: “fast,” “fast,” “falling”
    • Line 7: “do,” “dream,” “you,” “young”
    • Line 8: “darkly,” “darkness”
    • Line 9: “dust”
    • Line 20: “sinewed,” “strength”
    • Line 21: “suddenly”
    • Line 23: “falls,” “fast”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 2-4
    • Line 6
    • Lines 7-12
    • Lines 15-18
    • Lines 22-24

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-6
    • Lines 7-12
    • Lines 22-24

• “Waterfall” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Irreversible
  • Delay
  • Bracken
  • Astringent
  • Shrewd
  • Chastened
  • Resolution
  • Jauntiness
  • Sinewed
  • Luminous
  • (Location in poem: Lines 1-2: “I do not ask for youth, nor for delay / in the rising of time's irreversible river”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Waterfall”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Waterfall” Speaker

• “Waterfall” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Waterfall”

• More “Waterfall” Resources

  • External Resources

    • An Interview with Edmond — Read a 1982 interview with Lauris Edmond in which she discusses her life and work.

    • Edmond's Reception — Read a 1985 review of Edmond's Selected poems to learn more about how her work was received during her lifetime.

    • An Edmond Reading — Watch Edmond reading her poetry aloud.

    • Edmond's Legacy — Read an obituary of the poet that talks about her life and legacy.

    • A Short Biography — Learn more about Lauris Edmond in this biography from ReadNZ.

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