Are you looking for a helpful The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls analysis? We hope so, because this is the best analysis of The Tide Rises, The Tide falls that you will find anywhere!
This analysis eschews summary and mostly shares our feelings for the wonderful poem.
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls analysis of lines 1 to 5
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Where does the tide come from? Where does the tide go? The ocean is vast and deep and in its depth beyond our comprehension. Yet always it creeps upon the world of man, and then back again into the deep. It’s an endless cycle guided by the moon resting in the dark night sky.
The twilight has come, this is the end of the day, but is it the end of all things? A bird calls as if calling us home. The tide is low at the moment for the sea-sands are damp and brown. And we see a traveler move along the shore, hastening toward the town. What will this lonely traveler find in town? And why does he hasten so?
What about you, are you hastening through your life, just responding to one damn thing after another? Have you taken a chance to see the depth of the world around you? Why do you hurry so to your ultimate destination, which we all know in advance?
As this is a poem analysis we have to point out the rhyme scheme here is aabba. Throughout the course of the poem we always return to the first rhyme, it comes again and again, just like the tide. A poem analysis should also note, this verse is full of alliteration, “curlew calls” and “sea-sands” are two of the most straightforward examples.
Now we could spin you some lines telling you about a poem form called a rondeau and beat called iambic, but put that all aside, and just read the poem aloud, again and again, catch the rhythm feel the pull. You can feel that tide coming in and going out, ever and eternally.
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls analysis of lines 6 to 10
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
What’s the sea care either way for this man? The sea exists forever, but the town will one day fade. The footprints made by the man are soon gone. The sea sweeps over them. As if at work with an infinite number of tiny hands, that wipes clean the entire shore, and it’s as if that man were no more.
The cycle just continues, endlessly. The sea cares nothing for this man, for his travels, for his town, for whatever it was he was headed to, the sea just repeats its cycle, again and again, it’s unfathomable cycle through the depths of time. We ignore it as we hasten along, yet there’s something that is deep and meaningful in the sea, and this meaning and depth will certainly outlast us and our hurries.
As this is a poem analysis we had better remind you that darkness is symbolic of death, and when darkness calls, well, that can’t be good. Life is a delicate process, a flame, a momentary form, while the forms of nature are vast and indifferent, often deep with potent meanings we’re too hurried to see. Too concerned with today, we fail to grasp the significance of the eternal.
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls analysis of lines 11 to 15
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Good morning, life is back again and rearing to go. These aren’t horses, no, they are steeds, stamping and clawing on the ground with their hoofs and ready to break from their stalls. Ah, how in a hurry we all are.
That traveler, in such a hurry to get to the town, barely noticing the sea, would seem to be never more. He’s seeped into the sea, into that depth, he never took the time to understand. But new life has come, every bit as excited and hurried as this man was. This is the cycle, new life, death, then new life. We’ll rush along leaving footprints higgledy–piggledy across the shore, but with great majesty, the sea will sweep up everything, and leave the shore smooth once more, always rising and falling, again and again.
As a poem analysis we should mention that this poem is not just about death, but about life always rising again, never seeing or noticing the eternal rhythms that give rise to it. Those steeds in their stalls are power symbols of sexual urgency and life renewed. Yes, that traveler has died, gone into the vast ocean and disappeared into time. But the cycle continues, and life is renewed, those steeds in their gates getting ready to thrust forward with new travelers upon them.
So, yes, live your life. Hurry on. But take a minute to reflect on all the depth around you, all the endless cycles. Read the poem one more time, and savor its depth.
We hope you enjoyed this The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls analysis. Don’t forget to subscribe so that you can get our next poem analysis!