, Research Paper

The ocean is one of the most powerful forces on this Earth. It stops for nil. This thought is represented in the verse form & # 8220 ; The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls & # 8221 ; by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In this peculiar verse form, the ocean is the symbol for life. Although many things are dependent on the ocean, it is dependent on nil. It continuously rises and falls. This is besides true of life. People come and travel, but life ever exists. In this verse form, Longfellow uses many poetic techniques including metre, symbolism, and parallel construction to convey his ideas.

The Tide Rises, the Ride Falls

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

( pg. 152 )

The tide rises, the tide falls,

The dusk darkens, the curlew calls ;

Along the sea sands moist and brown

The traveller hastens toward the town,

And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settees on roofs and walls,

But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls ;

The small moving ridges, with their soft, white custodies,

Efface the footmarks in the littorals,

And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The forenoon interruptions ; the steeds in their stables

Stamp and neigh, as the stableman calls ;

The twenty-four hours returns, but never again

Returns the traveller to the shore,

And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Paraphrase

The tide comes, the tide goes,

The eventide sky dimes, the brown bird crows ;

Along the moisture, amber shore

The wayfarer rushes to the small town,

And the tide comes, the tide goes.

Blackness remainders on frames of the metropolis,

When it & # 8217 ; s dark, the sea still cries ;

The beckoning breaker with snowy caps,

Eras all hints left by adult male,

And the tide comes, the tide goes.

The morning appears, the Equus caballuss wake,

The stable manus enters, exciting their province ;

The twenty-four hours comes back, but non once more

Will the traveller see the huge ocean,

And the tide comes, the tide goes.

When the verse form is read aloud, the manner it sounds contributes to its overall effectivity and impact on the reader. The repeat of the line & # 8220 ; The tide rises

, the tide falls” begins to repeat the lulling sounds of the ocean. This is an illustration of the effectual usage of the poetic techniques of parallel construction. Another illustration of parallel construction is found in the 2nd line of each stanza, when Longfellow uses the word “calls” repetitively. The metre, emphasizing the word in the centre of the line and holding an unstressed syllable at the terminal of line, causes one’s voice to really “rise” and “fall” merely as the tide does. Longfellow besides uses inversion, for illustration in the line “Returns the traveller to the shore.” This allows the verse form to follow the “a-a-b-b-a” rime strategy. Onomatopoeia is besides present in this verse form. This technique can be found in the phrase “the curlew calls” and the words “stamp” and “neigh, ” when the stated animate being sounds are portrayed through related words.

Longfellow uses many techniques to exemplify the subject of the verse form ; life goes on despite its many alterations. Symbolism occurs in this verse form through the tide, which symbolizes life in the sense that no affair what else happens, it will go on to run its class. When the moving ridges & # 8220 ; Efface the footmarks in the sand, & # 8221 ; this symbolizes that the traveller dies and is no longer an of import portion of the universe & # 8217 ; s being and significance. The usage of apostrophe is apparent in the phrase & # 8220 ; The twenty-four hours returns, but never again returns the traveller to the shore. & # 8221 ; Longfellow addresses the traveller, who is absent from life as it is now known. The Equus caballuss represent the thought that the universe is invariably full of different sorts of life. Longfellow gives the sea personification, a character similar to that of life itself. & # 8220 ; The small moving ridges, with their soft, white custodies & # 8221 ; that erase all hints of the traveller may look cruel, but it mimics life in the fact that one time a individual dies, hints of their being shortly disappear. The description of the ocean and shore is enhanced by the usage of imagination. Several lines of the verse form include imagination, including & # 8220 ; The dusk darkens, the curlew calls. & # 8221 ; This peculiar line includes words which appeal to the senses of sight and sound.

Longfellow uses assorted techniques in this verse form that combine to organize permanent images. These images appeal to the emotions, leting the reader to easy hold on Longfellow & # 8217 ; s positions of life. Although each single life is of import, the difficult truth remains that each life is a mere bead of H2O in the huge ocean.