What is John Keats' attitude towards the Nile in his poem "To the Nile"?

The speaker admires the river. Note that he calls the Nile "Chief" of the pyramids and the crocodiles. That is to say, the Nile is the leader or guiding force of culture (pyramids) and nature (crocodiles). The Nile has been the "nurse" of many African nations. Here, the speaker notes how the river has helped civilization develop along its banks. Without this great river, these civilizations would not have developed so well or they would have developed elsewhere. Being along a large river or a body of water helps a society in terms of having a water supply, transportation, ports, fish, and so on. The Nile has clearly been useful for a number of societies, namely ancient Egypt. 

The speaker says the Nile is fruitful, but then asks if this is actually true. Is the Nile fruitful or does it just "beguile" (charm) those who live on its banks to stay there and develop their societies? The speaker supposes that the Nile would have to be fruitful and charming to keep societies near even though the northern part of the river is surrounded by desert. Despite all of the grandeur and charm of the river, the speaker concludes that the Nile is also like all rivers: 

Green rushes like our rivers, and dost taste 
The pleasant sun-rise, green isles hast thou too, 
And to the sea as happily dost haste. 

Keats's poem “To the Nile” is, as its name suggests, addressed to the large river that flows through Egypt. The poet makes use of several literary devices to convey a sense of its character and describe its features. Keats begins with a metaphor, describing the Nile as “son of the Moon-mountains African!” Here, Keats is referring to the “Mountains of the Moon,” a legendary mountain range at the source of the Nile in east Africa. By stating that the river is the “son” of these mountains, he expresses the idea of the river emerging out of, or being produced by, these mountains. (As a side note, the Mountains of the Moon were never found, although scholars have put forward a number of candidates for the title). Another metaphor follows: “Chief of the Pyramid and crocodile!” This suggests the Nile is all-powerful in Egypt, ruling over all aspects of life. Keats employs descriptive terms to convey the sense of the Nile as creating or helping to sustain life. It is “fruitful” and a “nurse.” The river is then placed in sharp contrast to the barren surrounding land: “A desert fills our seeings inward span.” Keats concludes his poem by referring to the “ignorance that makes a barren waste of all beyond itself.” Here, he is pointing to the way the barren land is ignorant of (doesn't know) the Nile and its “fruitful” qualities. He finishes by comparing the Nile to “our rivers,” by which he means those in Britain and Europe, writing, “Thou dost bedew Green rushes like our rivers, and dost taste The pleasant sunrise. Green isles hast thou too, And to the sea as happily dost haste.”

Summarize the poem "To the Nile" by John Keats.

"To the Nile" is a sonnet written by John Keats about the Nile River in Egypt. As a Petrarchan sonnet, it divides into an octave (first eight lines) and a sestet (last six lines). In the octave, Keats addresses the Nile with second person pronouns: "thee" and "thou." He personifies or even deifies the river, calling it the son of the African Moon-mountains and the "Chief of the Pyramid and Crocodile." Capitalizing "Pyramid" and "Crocodile" suggests those terms stand for more than a single structure or reptile; Keats presents the Nile as god of the world of men and animals. However, immediately upon conferring that honor upon the river, he begins to question whether the river deserves its reputation. He asks whether the river is really "fruitful," although that is commonly said. He proposes the river only "beguiles" men to revere it because it is the only game in town, so to speak. 

The beginning of the sestet is where the volta, or change, typically occurs in a Petrarchan sonnet. The perspective changes from what has only been suggested to a clear affirmation that the river is not as great as its reputation: "O may dark fancies err! They surely do." The speaker now claims that anything that "makes a barren waste" of everything around itself is "ignorance." By this he means that if the Nile were truly a god, its "fruitfulness" would extend into the deserts of Egypt, and the whole country, not just the Nile river's banks and delta, would be lush. The poet then goes on to describe the river as a mere river--not as anything to be revered. It has green islands and rushes, it gleams in the sun, and it flows to the sea, just "like our rivers," meaning England's. 

Interestingly, this poem was the result of a writing challenge that John Keats, Leigh Hunt, and Percy Shelley engaged in one evening. They allowed 15 minutes for each poet to write a poem about the Nile River. Upon reading the other sonnets, Leigh Hunt, their host that evening, declared himself the loser. Shelley's contribution was "Ozymandias," which has become a well-known and beloved poem, but which certainly violated the rules of the contest by not discussing the Nile. Keats' poem is consistent with his love of lush nature scenes. It seems to have bothered him that the Nile, while providing some greenery to Egypt, was powerless to affect the "barren waste of all beyond itself."

How does John Keats admire the River Nile's service and beauty in "To the Nile"?

In his poem "To the Nile," John Keats offers a speaker who personifies the River Nile and emphasizes its impressive qualities, which include its service to humankind and adding beauty to its surroundings. Keats employs the literary devices of apostrophe and personification in the speaker’s statements and questions to the river. Apostrophe is direct address to another person or an animal, inanimate object, or abstract concept. Personification is the attribution of human qualities to non-human beings, objects, or abstractions. The speaker praises the river's leadership as a "Chief" and its nurturing or curative effects as a "Nurse."

The speaker connects the river’s physical length to the temporal length of its service, which dates back to when "the world began." Twice they use the term "fruitful," first noting that this is what "we" call the river, then questioning whether the accuracy of that notion. Posing questions and raising the doubts of others, then answering those questions with emphatic affirmatives serves to strengthen the speaker’s positive opinion.

Another repeated word is "green," as the speaker contrasts the river’s ability to nurture people and animals with the desert landscape through which it passes. The river creates "green rushes" and "green isles." The speaker also connects the natural fertility that the river endows with human knowledge and creativity. The ignorance that would make people doubt the river’s contributions is called "a barren waste."

What are the themes of John Keats' "To the Nile"?

A literary work may have more than one theme, and the themes one reader finds in a piece may be different from those another reader finds. The important thing is that any theme you find must be consistent with the details of the text and its tone. To arrive at a theme, first be sure you understand the face value of the work.

In this sonnet by John Keats, he comments upon Egypt's Nile River. He begins by describing it in human and even god-like terms. Fruitfulness seems to be a major topic of the poem, being overtly addressed in lines 3 and 6 and suggested in line 10 by the opposite concept, barrenness. Keats raises the question of whether the Nile is actually fruitful, as it has been called. In line 9 he implies that such a perception of the Nile is in error. The reason is that everything "beyond itself" is "a barren waste." He ends the poem by describing the river as being "like our rivers," that is, like the rivers of England.

With this basic understanding of the content of the poem, we can move on to asking what universal truths about life or humankind it presents. At least two seem fairly obvious. First, although the river is presented as god-like initially, Keats goes on to attribute "ignorance" to it because of the barrenness of the desert country around the river, and in the end of the poem, it is equated to other rivers that are not god-like. A theme from this part of the poem would be that rivers can be appreciated for the green scenery they provide, but they have no power to change people's lives and should not be revered beyond the basic enjoyment they provide. Making this meaning symbolic, we could see a theme that often greatness is ascribed to things or people who don't really deserve it.

Next, considering how the topic of fruitfulness presents a theme, we can say that the poem suggests that real fruitfulness has the ability to enrich others, but any person or thing that enriches only itself is "ignorance." By extension, we can also say that those who revere something that is powerless to resolve the barrenness beyond itself are ignorant.

These are a few of the themes one can garner from John Keats' poem "To the Nile."

Explain the poem "To the Nile" by John Keats.

As an educator addressed in the previous response, Keats's speaker concludes at the end of the poem that the Nile is just like any other river, despite the myths surrounding it. Keats wrote during a time when the British Empire was beginning to take an interest in Africa, just before the British colonization of Africa that occurred towards the end of the 19th century. In this sense, the poem may be a reflection on the way the British exoticized the Nile, Egypt, and Egyptian and African cultures. The British viewed these cultures as mysterious, foreign, magical, and less civilized. 

In the lines "O may dark fancies err! They surely do, / 'Tis ignorance that makes a barren waste / Of all beyond itself," Keats could be hinting at the ways in which these overly romantic fantasies of Africa are grave misconceptions and can lead to errors. Keats then tells us that this river is just like "our rivers," meaning the rivers in England. He could be telling us here that appreciating one's home and native country, rather than fantasizing about faraway lands, is important. He might also be implying that we can better understand these faraway lands if we also notice their similarities to our home culture, rather than viewing them as dark and mysterious.

The poem "To the Nile" by John Keats is a sonnet. It is written in the form of a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, consisting of an octave rhymed abbaabba and a sestet rhymed cdcdcd. It is written in iambic pentameter, with initial trochaic substitutions in first two lines and occasional metrical substitutions throughout the poem. 

The poem is written in the second person, with an unidentified speaker using direct address to talk to the Nile. The Nile is personified, addressed almost as a sentient being.

The poem describes the course of the Nile, flowing from sub-Saharan mountains to the Mediterranean sea, and how it fertilizes the desert and caused Egypt to become great, a fertile oasis within a desert. 

In the octave the Nile is described as something alien and almost supernatural, but in the sestet the speaker realizes that despite its role in myth and history, it is not very different from any other river. 

How does Keats admire the Nile's beauty in "To the Nile"?

Keats admires the Nile throughout the sonnet. He calls it "fruitful" twice, which brings to mind the beautiful image of an abundance of growing food. He also states that it has been the "nurse" or caretaker of "swart" (which means darker-skinned) nations for thousands of years: "since the world began." He also pictures it as a seductive land where a person can rest. However, the most beautiful images of this river occur at the end of the poem. Here, the narrator, using apostrophe as he has throughout the sonnet to address the Nile, states that

Thou [you] dost bedew
Green rushes like our rivers, and dost taste
The pleasant sunrise. Green isles hast thou too,
And to the sea as happily dost haste.

Keats finds the Nile beautiful because he imagines it as similar to rivers in England. It "bedews," or moistens, "green rushes" growing near the water, just as English rivers do. It enjoys the "pleasant sunrise," as do English rivers. As the biggest rivers in England are dotted with "green isles," so is the Nile. Finally, like British rivers, the Nile rushes into the sea. Although the Nile is appreciated for the abundance it has afforded darker-skinned people, its main beauty, in the eyes of Keats's speaker, is in its similarity to England, which by implication has the most beautiful rivers of all.

Keats also renders the Nile beautiful and relatable by personifying it: it enjoys the sunrise as a human does, and the narrator pictures it "happily" hastening off to meet the sea.