Answer:
In the first lines of the poem the speaker begins by creating several unusual and engaging phrases that state that things are “famous”. The first explains that the “river is famous to the fish”. This might take some analysis to figure out, but, it makes sense to consider the importance of the river in the life of a fish. It’s what they live in and very likely thinks about all the time. It’s the most important thing in their world.
The second “famous” line is different but not so much so that it isn’t related. This time, the speaker says that the “loud voice” is famous for the silence that it interrupts. After the first comparison, this one is easier. Without a “loud voice” the silence wouldn’t seem noteworthy. It needs to be interrupted to be noticed.
Nye uses personification and allusion in the next lines. She alludes to a line from the Bible, “the meek will inherit the earth” in order to cast “silence” in the same light. She is effectively saying that “silence” is meek, a human character trait given to something that’s not human. The silence knew, somehow, that it would inherit the earth long before it was written in the Bible.
Lines 5-9
The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.
Explanation:
