It’s comforting to imagine water carrying both memory and promise. The last poem you shared and your own experience of the Nile living through you elevates river, ocean, even puddle, to the truth of their omniscience. I’ve always thought the expression “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” should instead end with “water to water.”
And this! Well, I read it with great pause:
“With agriculture and cities, not to mention dynasties and an entire culture, depending throughout history on this strip of water running north through the huge expanse of desert, the sheer fragility of of our world emerged to me as never before.”
The Nile is truly a beguiling river. I too was astonished by the fact the Egypt is basically a kilometre wide. It’s basically a road, a railway line and a river and a few fields, stretching for hundreds of miles. Years ago I managed to take three wonderful photographs of dawn breaking over the Valley of the Kings. The sky is a bruised pink, the river reflects it like a sheet of glass and the mountains are etched against the sky. I had them enlarged and framed and gave them to my father who had fallen in love with the Nile when he lived in Cairo as a young man. He wept when he unwrapped them. I have them now. They are doubly precious. Thank you Jeffrey.
Your river portraits have let us see each river through your eyes, vivid with your wonderful writing. I can tell this one truly stole your heart.
"...but was also moving inside all of us who lived along its banks, not as a secret life but as a kind of flowing inner life just out of the reach of the conscious mind. The Nile was beginning to be more than just a river to me."
Thank you for sharing a very moving portrait of a place alive in your mind and heart.
This piece of text caught my eye, too. I’ve just been reading about, and watching videos of the artist Pascale Rentsch. She likes to paint the sea, but she always does this ‘on location’, because her senses are heightened. She needs to hear, feel, smell and touch what she sees, because then she feels better able to express what she senses in her “flowing inner life” in her painting.
How wonderful to have been able to see the Nile from your window, Jeffrey. I really enjoyed reading about how you fell in love with it and felt it to be calming. I always think of rivers as the lifeblood of the land, each with their own pulse rate as they journey along. We can feel that pulse and understand the river.
Beautiful Jeffrey. While I have never been to Egypt, I know that sense of a place that stays forever with you. And the moon on the Nile photo, in particular, I found moving.
This evocative tapestry of word & image gracefully draws in the reader and provides an immersion not simply into the setting but into your illuminating vantage point. Something that I value so much is the generosity of spirit projected in your writings. Despite your considerable international knowledge, you never condescend to readers with this expertise, but you present yourself as an invested fellow traveler eager to gift others with your enthusiasm and your passion for travel experiences that enrich one’s understanding of nature’s glory & cultural awareness in response to these memorable incidents. Like Langston Hughes, perhaps you feel like your own soul “has grown deep like the rivers” through your broadened appreciation for vitalized beauty that resists standard definitions & self-protective limitations.
"The truth is, the river never leaves you, even after you depart. After coming under its spell, time changes forever. Years later, you can still feel its flow within, pushing you without hurry towards your future, rippling like the gentle pulse of eternity."
The truth is, that many places we visit and people we meet have similar impacts on us.
Beautifully written (so were the photos taken) as always!
One of my great disappointments is that we lived just on the other side of the Red Sea for 7 years, but never managed to make it to Egypt. (Well OK we lived across from Eritrea, but still...) There's a children's book called "The Egypt Game" that so enthralled me we attempted to copy the kids in the book and re-enact some of the "rituals" they did. :D
So near yet... You're only the other end of the Med, though now. I used to travel from Cairo to Valencia via London quite often. You'd have the chance to make a good start on the Cairo Trilogy on the plane. Just a thought :)
“…the view I had from my room of the Nile calmed me. Perhaps it even claimed me.” I’ll probably never get to the Nile, but how glorious to experience its hold on the heart and mind through your words and photos.
I love this post, Jeffrey, especially the poem by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi at the end.
From a young age, I remember being fascinated by Egypt and have vague memories of an Ancient Egyptian day at junior school. But 15 years ago, I travelled down the Nile on a tour so I saw Rameses II at Memphis! Everywhere and everything took my breath away.
And an additional thank you as I am now going to root around for the photos that I took on the trip as I am visiting my family in the UK - perfect timing!
Hi Sarah, I'm so glad that you enjoyed this post. Even happier that it's brought back so many memories. And photos! Yes, it's a breathtaking river, isn't it!
Beautiful photos! And good timing, I’m about to teach Antony and Cleopatra. I shall refer to some of this intertextuality. I’ve personally only been to the touristic Red Sea. Inspiring.
It’s comforting to imagine water carrying both memory and promise. The last poem you shared and your own experience of the Nile living through you elevates river, ocean, even puddle, to the truth of their omniscience. I’ve always thought the expression “ashes to ashes, dust to dust” should instead end with “water to water.”
And this! Well, I read it with great pause:
“With agriculture and cities, not to mention dynasties and an entire culture, depending throughout history on this strip of water running north through the huge expanse of desert, the sheer fragility of of our world emerged to me as never before.”
Thank you, Kimberly. Yes, perhaps water to water is a better way to describe our journey!
The Nile is truly a beguiling river. I too was astonished by the fact the Egypt is basically a kilometre wide. It’s basically a road, a railway line and a river and a few fields, stretching for hundreds of miles. Years ago I managed to take three wonderful photographs of dawn breaking over the Valley of the Kings. The sky is a bruised pink, the river reflects it like a sheet of glass and the mountains are etched against the sky. I had them enlarged and framed and gave them to my father who had fallen in love with the Nile when he lived in Cairo as a young man. He wept when he unwrapped them. I have them now. They are doubly precious. Thank you Jeffrey.
Thank you, Liz. That's a truly wonderful story about your father and those photos. Thank you for sharing it.
Your river portraits have let us see each river through your eyes, vivid with your wonderful writing. I can tell this one truly stole your heart.
"...but was also moving inside all of us who lived along its banks, not as a secret life but as a kind of flowing inner life just out of the reach of the conscious mind. The Nile was beginning to be more than just a river to me."
Thank you for sharing a very moving portrait of a place alive in your mind and heart.
Thank you so much, Leslie! Yes, the Nile is special, and the feeling has stayed with me.
This piece of text caught my eye, too. I’ve just been reading about, and watching videos of the artist Pascale Rentsch. She likes to paint the sea, but she always does this ‘on location’, because her senses are heightened. She needs to hear, feel, smell and touch what she sees, because then she feels better able to express what she senses in her “flowing inner life” in her painting.
Thank you, Nicola. I will look out for Rentsch's work.
How wonderful to have been able to see the Nile from your window, Jeffrey. I really enjoyed reading about how you fell in love with it and felt it to be calming. I always think of rivers as the lifeblood of the land, each with their own pulse rate as they journey along. We can feel that pulse and understand the river.
Thank you, Maureen. Yes, the lifeblood of the land, that's a great description of what rivers are.
Beautiful Jeffrey. While I have never been to Egypt, I know that sense of a place that stays forever with you. And the moon on the Nile photo, in particular, I found moving.
Thank you, Michelle. I know that night on the Nile will stay with me forever.
Such a gift to see the world through your eyes and memories! Thanks for this tribute to a river I’ve never seen—
Thank you, Victoria! Maybe you'll get to see it one day?
This evocative tapestry of word & image gracefully draws in the reader and provides an immersion not simply into the setting but into your illuminating vantage point. Something that I value so much is the generosity of spirit projected in your writings. Despite your considerable international knowledge, you never condescend to readers with this expertise, but you present yourself as an invested fellow traveler eager to gift others with your enthusiasm and your passion for travel experiences that enrich one’s understanding of nature’s glory & cultural awareness in response to these memorable incidents. Like Langston Hughes, perhaps you feel like your own soul “has grown deep like the rivers” through your broadened appreciation for vitalized beauty that resists standard definitions & self-protective limitations.
Thank you, Alisa. That's a truly glorious phrase by Hughes. I can't pretend to possess those depths, but I'm happy to splash about in the shallows.
A beautiful piece. Thank you, Jeff.
Thank you, Cissy. I appreciate your reading and your kind words.
"The truth is, the river never leaves you, even after you depart. After coming under its spell, time changes forever. Years later, you can still feel its flow within, pushing you without hurry towards your future, rippling like the gentle pulse of eternity."
The truth is, that many places we visit and people we meet have similar impacts on us.
Beautifully written (so were the photos taken) as always!
I read this and then forgot to comment earlier in the week. So lovely! I miss The Nile
Thank you, Noha! Me too.
One of my great disappointments is that we lived just on the other side of the Red Sea for 7 years, but never managed to make it to Egypt. (Well OK we lived across from Eritrea, but still...) There's a children's book called "The Egypt Game" that so enthralled me we attempted to copy the kids in the book and re-enact some of the "rituals" they did. :D
So near yet... You're only the other end of the Med, though now. I used to travel from Cairo to Valencia via London quite often. You'd have the chance to make a good start on the Cairo Trilogy on the plane. Just a thought :)
Maybe I'll start with the books and go from there... ;)
“…the view I had from my room of the Nile calmed me. Perhaps it even claimed me.” I’ll probably never get to the Nile, but how glorious to experience its hold on the heart and mind through your words and photos.
Thank you, Rona! The hold that certain places can have on us can be very strong, can't it?
I love this post, Jeffrey, especially the poem by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi at the end.
From a young age, I remember being fascinated by Egypt and have vague memories of an Ancient Egyptian day at junior school. But 15 years ago, I travelled down the Nile on a tour so I saw Rameses II at Memphis! Everywhere and everything took my breath away.
And an additional thank you as I am now going to root around for the photos that I took on the trip as I am visiting my family in the UK - perfect timing!
Hi Sarah, I'm so glad that you enjoyed this post. Even happier that it's brought back so many memories. And photos! Yes, it's a breathtaking river, isn't it!
I had never really given the Nile that much thought, but your writing makes me want to go see it myself. It’s very enchanting stuff, Jeffrey. :)
Thank you, Michael! I hope you get the chance to explore this great river.
Beautiful photos! And good timing, I’m about to teach Antony and Cleopatra. I shall refer to some of this intertextuality. I’ve personally only been to the touristic Red Sea. Inspiring.
Thank you Kate! Enjoy A&C. There were times on the Nile when I found myself intoning, “O whither hast though led me, Egypt?“
Beautiful! I’m a huge fan of the Cairo trilogies.
Thank you, Priya. Me too. They are wonderful novels.