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The
Sound of the Sea
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
interpreted by Aneesh Venkat
The
sea awoke at midnight from its sleep,
And
round the pebbly beaches far and wide
I
heard the first wave of the rising tide
Rush
onward with uninterrupted sweep;
A
voice out of the silence of the deep,
A
sound mysteriously multiplied
As
of a cataract from the mountain's side,
Or
roar of winds upon a wooded steep.
So
comes to us at times, from the unknown
And
inaccessible solitudes of being,
The
rushing of the sea-tides of the soul;
And
inspirations, that we deem our own,
Are
some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing
Of
things beyond our reason or control.
Poet: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Born on
Feb 27, 1807 and died on March 24, 1882. Attended Portland Academy. He
wrote many, many, poems including "Paul Rever's Ride". Very
prolific New England poet.
Vocabulary: Cataract - a large or high waterfall
Inspirations
- stimulation of the mind
Emotions
- a high level of feeling
Type of poem: Petrarchan Sonnet
Speaker: A lonely man reflecting about the
depths of the soul who is thinking about analogies for it
Audience: General Audience
Tone: Extremely uncertain; after reading
it's still an enigma
Meaning: Longfellow tlaks of an ocean and a deep mysterious
enamoly from the ocean. Longfellow goes onto state that the human soul
is very similar to an ocean and that from the dark depths of the soul
comes forces that we cannot control [may be slightly off, translated from
handwriting]
Structure of poem: - An indentation pattern
-
rhyming scheme (abba abba cde cde)
-
One octect and one sestet
-
petrarchan sonnet
Examples of poetic techniques used in the poem:
| "These
awoke at midnight from its sleep" |
Personification |
"As
of a cataract from the mountain's side"
|
Imagery |
Connection between the poem and the poet's life and/or
times: First poet to use American themes and not borrow from
British; Longfellow and others began to create an American literary heritage;
not stolen from Europe
Most memorable quote from the poem: "Are some divine foreshadowing
and foreseeing / Of things beyond our reason or control"
© Smelli Notes 2001
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