There Is a Tide - Robert Nathan
Cite examples of personification in the first stanza.
"Tide makes continual thunder"; "Waters leap"; "Waters rising and crying"; "water roaring and rising".
Describe the tone. What different aspects of the ocean are presented? What response does the author suggest should be made to the tide?
Mysterious, wondrous, and stirring. The author is marveling at the duality and differing aspects of the sea. It serves a multitude of purposes and each individual sees it in his own way. The fisherman makes it his home and appreciates it for the life and occupation it brings. He relies on it to sustain him and provide for him. The child sees it as a playground, and the woman sees it as a place to sun her hair. However, the ocean is also a place of danger and uncertainty. Every crashing wave is unpredictable and could so easily swallow one up. We must see the sea for everything that it is and acknowledge every aspect. We should be cautious of the dangers while fully embracing the life and beauty of it.
What positive and negative aspects of the sea are mentioned?
POSITIVE: it is where children play and women sun their hair. it holds life. "fisherman makes the sea his home". NEGATIVE: "icy enemy of man"; "makes continual thunder".
This poem uses what fixed form?
Shakespearean Sonnet
