Analysis of The Eternal Shore
Tim Strauss 1994 (N.C)
Waves break as I awake on the misty shore of my mind
Memories old and secrets told are what the ocean leaves behind
As the sunset sky drifts slowly by, I rise to stare at the sea
And wonder if this place I'm in is the home of eternity
I stroll the beach in quiet escape and take my steps alone
I hear the waves and feel the spray that gently soothes my soul
While here I peer out to the sea and feel so strangely at home
And from the ocean comes a notion I'm a droplet to the whole
Walking along, I come to recall a day in deep contemplation
The day I was born, washed up on shore in a sudden realization
To walk this land apart from the sea in some spiritual segregation
That I am the sea and the sea is me, and I am its creation
I begin to think and slowly I sink into sands of confusion and pain
How could it be that the great sea and me are actually two of the same?
Fear takes hold and I slowly grow cold while sinking more and more
But a calm pervades as I hear the waves crashing upon the shore
If I am the sea like a branch from a tree and I trust the roots are strong
Then I can stroll the beach without stressing if I am in the right or wrong
With that theory in mind I take a step blind and faithfully call fear's bluff
And at that moment I felt in my soul the sea's everlasting love
The shore of my mind is eternally divine and mysterious even to me
A place between worlds where wisdom unfurls in waves upon a beach
There comes a wind that slowly begins to carry me like a feather
I let go to its plea for one day the sea will welcome me back forever
Scheme | AABB XCXC DDDD XXEE FFXX BXGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (50%) |
Metre | 11110110101111 1001010111010101 101111011111101 0101111010110100 110101001011101 11010101110111 111111010111011 0101010101010101 100111110101010 01111111100101010 111101101011000010 11101001110111010 1011101011011101001 111110110111001101 111011011110101 1010111101100101 111011011010110111 111101011011100111 111001110110100111 0111011011010101 011111010001001001011 010111101010101 11011100111011010 1111111110111011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,567 |
Words | 330 |
Sentences | 2 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 51 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 205 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 54 |
About this poem
In this poem, our souls derive from the sea that spits us out and takes us back eventually.
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"The Eternal Shore" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/170862/the-eternal-shore>.
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