Analysis of The Ocean
Felicia Dorothea Hemans 1793 (Liverpool, Lancashire) – 1835 (Dublin, County Dublin)
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.
~ Psalm cvii. 23, 24.
HE that in venturous barks hath been
A wanderer on the deep,
Can tell of many an awful scene,
Where storms for ever sweep.
For many a fair, majestic sight
Hath met his wandering eye,
Beneath the streaming northern light,
Or blaze of Indian sky.
Go! ask him of the whirlpool's roar,
Whose echoing thunder peals
Loud, as if rushed along the shore
An army's chariot wheels;
Of icebergs, floating o'er the main,
Or fixed upon the coast,
Like glittering citadel or fane,
'Mid the bright realms of frost;
Of coral rocks, from waves below
In steep ascent that tower,
And fraught with peril, daily grow,
Formed by an insect's power;
Of sea-fires, which at dead of night
Shine o'er the tides afar,
And make th' expanse of ocean bright
As heaven, with many a star.
Oh God! thy name they well may praise,
Who to the deep go down,
And trace the wonders of thy ways,
Where rocks and billows frown.
If glorious be that awful deep,
No human power can bind,
What then art Thou, who bidst it keep
Within its bounds confined!
Let heaven and earth in praise unite,
Eternal praise to Thee,
Whose word can rouse the tempest's might,
Or still the raging sea!
Scheme | A X XAXA BCBC DEDE FXFX GHGH BIBI EJEJ AKAK BXBE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111101011110011011011010110001 11 1101111 0100101 111101101 111101 110010101 1111001 01010101 1111001 1111011 1100101 11110101 1101001 110101001 110101 11001011 101111 11011101 0101110 01110101 111110 111011111 1100101 0111011101 11011001 11111111 110111 01010111 110101 110011101 1101011 11111111 011101 11001011 010111 1111011 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,291 |
Words | 243 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 38 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 91 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 22 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 46 Views
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"The Ocean" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/13600/the-ocean>.
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