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The Ocean Tone

Decent Essays

As an observation of the opposing natures of the ocean's surfaces and depths, Hawthorne's "The Ocean" illustrates the tranquility of a grave beneath the ocean's waves. The melancholy tone of the poem acts like a unifying current, pervading the text of the poem and saturating it with a feeling of peace mingled with undertones of sadness. Divided into two octaves, the poem first depicts the nature of the ocean referring to it as "quiet" and "alone" then the second half of the poem contrasts typical graves with the graves of mariners beneath the sea (2). The poem also relies on a detached observer to act as the speaker to directly connect the audience to the image of the ocean which it is describing. The poem starts with a description of the ocean and its caves and the first octave also establishes the inherent contrast between the ocean's "silent caves" and its "fury" (1-3). The first octave portrays a divided ocean; on the top of the ocean lie rough and …show more content…

The final line of the first stanza emphasizes the power of the ocean and that it does not discriminate when choosing its victims since it willingly takes "the young, the bright, the fair" (8). The poem then transitions like the crest of a wave colliding with a sandy beach as it begins to talk specifically of those who find solace beneath the wrathful waves. The poem's structure also echoes the ebb and flow of the ocean as one wave flawlessly makes way for another. The second stanza begins by describing the slumber of the "wearied seamen" and by stating that they are resting "calmly" the speaker conjures an atmosphere of finality and peace (9). The poem also refers to the sea as belonging to the seamen through the use of the word "own" and in doing so he emphasizes that because the men spent their lives on the sea it became their home

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