Analysis of The Sea Diver

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



My way is on the bright blue sea,
My sleep upon its rocking tide;
And many an eye has followed me
Where billows clasp the worn seaside.

My plumage bears the crimson blush,
When ocean by the sun is kissed!
When fades the evening's purple flush,
My dark wing cleaves the silver mist.

Full many a fathom down beneath
The bright arch of the splendid deep
My ear has heard the sea-shell breathe
O'er living myriads in their sleep.

They rested by the coral throne,
And by the pearly diadem;
Where the pale sea-grape had o'ergrown
The glorious dwellings made for them.

At night upon my storm-drench'd wing,
I poised above a helmless bark,
And soon I saw the shattered thing
Had passed away and left no mark.

And when the wind and storm were done,
a ship, that had rode out the gale,
Sunk down, without a signal-gun,
And none was left to tell the tale.

I saw the pomp of day depart--
The cloud resign its golden crown,
When to the ocean's beating heart
The sailor's wasted corse went down.

Peace be to those whose graves are made
Beneath the bright and silver sea!
Peace - that their relics there were laid
With no vain pride and pageantry.


Scheme ABAB CDCD XEXE FGFG HIHI JKJK LMLM NANA
Poetic Form Pantoum 
Quatrain 
Metre 11110111 11011101 010111101 1101011 11010101 11010111 11010101 11110101 110010101 01110101 11110111 10101011 11010101 0101010 1011111 010010111 11011111 1101011 01110101 11010111 01010101 01111101 11010101 01111101 11011101 01011101 11010101 01010111 11111111 01010101 11110101 11110100
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,109
Words 212
Sentences 11
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 111
Words per stanza (avg) 26
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:05 min read
112

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

All Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poems | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Books

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