Two Ways of Seeing a River (1883)

This passage is excerpted from Mark Twains 1883 book Life on the Mississippi, in which he sh bes his experiences as a river steamboat pilot and explores the many facets of the great river. As you read, consider his masterful exercise of language as he reflects on his changing relationship with the river.Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I k newfound the earn of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry, had asleep(p) out of the majestic river I still kept in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me.A considerable expanse of the river was turned to blood in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous in one enjoin a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling ring that were as many-tinted as an opal where the ruddy flush was faintest was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced the shore on our left was densely wooded, and the somber shadow that fell from this forest was broken in one place by a long, ruffled trail that shone kindred silver and high supra the forest wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the sun.There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances, and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily, enriching it every passing moment with new marvels of coloring. I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me and I had never jut outn anything like this at home. But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the rivers face another day came when I ceased altogether to note them. Then, if that sunset scene had been repeated, I should have looked upon it without rapture and should have commented upon it inwardly after this fashionThis sun means that we re exit to have wind tomorrow that floating log means that the river is rising, small thanks to it that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff let down which is going to kill somebodys steamboat one of these nights, if it keeps on stretching out like that those tumbling boils show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there the lines and circles in the slick water over yonder are a warning that that troublesome place is shoaling up perilously that silver streak in the shadow of the forest is the break from a new snag and he has located himself in the very best place he could have found to fi sh for steamboats that tall dead tree, with a single living.Two Ways of Seeing a River ranch, is not going to sound long, and then how is a body ever going to get through this blind place at night without the friendly old landmark? No, the womanise and beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beautys cheek mean to a doctor but a break that ripples above some deadly disease? Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesnt he simply view her professionally and comment upon her unwholesome condition all to himself?And doesnt he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade? 1. What is Twains argument here? What is his claim? Wha t are his reasons? How does he construct his essay to help the reader be persuaded by his claim? How does he draw connections between the ideas in the first two paragraphs and those in the third? 2. What is the purpose of Twains argument? To explore? Inform? Convince? Meditate or pray? Something else? 3. Twain is known for his beautiful, rich use of language. Find the phrases or images that are the most powerful to you. What tools of stylish language are he using? How do they help make his argument glib?