Published: 2025-12-31

Who are Rivers? About Rivers Based on Poems for Children

Bernadeta Niesporek-Szamburska Logo ORCID

Abstract

This study presents the image of river(s) in children’s poetry, focusing primarily on volumes published in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite their age, these texts remain popular through their ongoing presence in educational contexts, including online resources. The article briefly outlines the linguistic image of the river, and then analyses its representation in stanzas addressed to young readers. In these poems, the river is depicted in two ways. First, within its natural environment, the river appears as a being that accompanies humans, behaving and feeling like them, while remaining integrated with its surroundings, it captivates with its beauty. The second image does not depart from this anthropomorphic and aesthetic vision; however, the river (most often the Vistula) additionally functions as a cultureme, connecting humans with their country and nation. These characteristics also provide an answer to the titular question: in children’s poems, rivers are portrayed as persons – embedded in the vast web of life.

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Niesporek-Szamburska, B. (2025). Who are Rivers? About Rivers Based on Poems for Children. Paidia and Literature, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.31261/PiL.2025.07.05

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Domyślna okładka

2025
Published: 2025-01-01


eISSN: 2719-4167
Ikona DOI 10.31261/PiL

Publisher
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

Licence CC Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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