What is the meaning of Stevie smiths poem the river god?

This poem is about an old river that is desperate for some sort of affection. He is scared of betrayal and so to prevent this he keeps those he has a liking for-mostly beautiful women(O.o) close to him-usually by drowning them.

He feels doubt at times-the line "or will she go away?"- gives away some of the strong doubt that this river feels, and also gives a sense of hope that 'maybe this time she will stay'. You can almost pity the character in this poem (minus all the pervy moments^^) that is as broken as the way the poem is structured. He is angry enough to kill-but there seems to be some sort of reason behind this anger.

~<3