GCE O/L
New syllabus
English Literature made easy - Poetry
The Sea
by James Reeves
The criterion of the actions of the sea and its behaviour pattern is
eloquently depicted in the poem. The Sea, James Reeve's diction style,
rhythm and thyme, the metaphors and the tone itself create the actual
image of changing moods of the sea.
Firstly James Reeves introduces the sea in the form of "a hungry dog"
with all its activities, actions and reactions. The reader is able to
visualise the image of the "hungry dog" "clashing teeth and shaggy jaws"
Hour upon hour he gnaws".
The awful sound of the waves rolling towards the beach with his
"Clashing teeth and shaggy jaws". Usually the sea is compared to the
grace and beauty of a woman, expressing the movements of the feminine
gender, but here James Reeves has employed a character of the canine;
the drastic actions of the angry sea . "The rumbling tumbling stones".
"And bones, bones, bones, bones".
The repetition of the word BONES mirrors forth the drastic actions
and the fierce behaviour pattern of the SEA DOG. Every action is
symbolised by the giant Sea Dog.
"Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs and howls and hollows long and
'loud"
The roaring sea with its fierce actions depicting the fierce
behaviour pattern of a sea dog getting back to its normal mood during
the months of May and June.
"But on quiet days in May or June,
Whenever the grasses on the dune
Play no more their sandy tune,
He lies on the sandy shores
So quiet,
So quiet,
He scarcely snores"
The calm and serene mood of the sea is symbolised by the image of a
dog - fierce and drastic at one time and calm and quiet at other times,
The calmness of the Changing Sea is highlighted by the words
"So quiet
So quiet
He scarcely snores"
The varied rhyming pattern serving itself to create the visual image
of the sea calm and glorious at one time and nasty and rough at other
times. The animal behaviour pattern of the dog with the characteristic
beastly action 'sniffs and sniffs', "rolls gnaws, moans, clashing teeth,
shaggy jaws, greasy paws, justifying the similies used by the poet to
describe the changing mood of the sea and the "hungry dog".
The picturesque presentation of the sea and its similarity to the
canine behaviour, pattern, mirror forth the radical changes of the sea
from period to period. The picturesque presentation of the sea in its
various moods strike the reader in a forceful manner.
The semantic procedure of the Poet in creating the images of a
HUNGRY
DOG and a QUIET DOG
is eloquently brought forth creating a cinematic
view of the procedure of the sea in different ways.
The sea is grammatically neuter in gender, but usually the sea
assumes feminine gender. In this poem the writer uses neuter gender,
presenting the DOG IMAGE - The "contented dog, and the hungry dog" the
poet has personified it by using "he" bringing much life and colour to
the procedure of the Dog's behaviour pattern, the poet has created the
suitable background for his ideas to be expressed in a profound manner;
the fierce hungry dog and the contented dog expressing the moods of the
sea.
The rhyming scheme functions in an efficient manner creating the
HUNGRY DOG and the CONTENTED DOG the rhyming pattern is well maintained
though the metre varies at times. The opening line and the last line of
each verse varies a little. The poet has maintained the varied tones of
the behaviour pattern of the sea beautifully and elegantly.
James Reeve's poem THE SEA remains as a piece of literature that
could be appreciated and enjoyed by the reader visualising the varied
tones and behaviour pattern of the sea in its splendour and its
ferocity.
Mrs. C. Ekanayake,
Retd. Specialist Teacher
Eng. |
