CTHE OCEANBy: Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Ocean has its silent caves,

Deep, quiet, and alone;

Though there be fury on the waves,

Beneath them there is none.

The awful spirits of the deep

Hold their communion there;

And there are those for whom we weep,

The young, the bright, the fair.

Calmly the wearied seamen rest

Beneath their own blue sea.

The ocean solitudes are blest,

For there is purity.

The earth has guilt, the earth has care,

Unquiet are its graves;

But peaceful sleep is ever there,

Beneath the dark blue waves.

Nathaniel Hawthorne• Born 1804 – 1864 into a prominent family.

• Attended Bowdoin College in 1821.

• Not only was he a poet but he wrote novels that were based on romance.

• Writer of Twice-Told Tales, Young Goodman Brown, The Scarlet Letter, and The House of Seven Gables.

• Lost his father at sea.

• Died on his way to his dear friend, Franklin Pierce’s house in New Hampshire.

Analysis of Stanza 1

• Above the caves in the oceans depths lies the furious waves that claims their victims. “The awful spirts of the deep” bring them down to the ocean floor no matter what life they lived resulting in the ocean being their final resting place.

Analysis of Stanza 2

• The ocean is actually a good resting place despite the devastating way the seamen die. It was a place they loved and cared about and spent their lives pursuing. These factors add up to a conclusion that death at sea isn’t a bad death for the seamen compared to other tragedies that could have happened.

Organization, Structure, and Form

The Ocean has its silent caves, A

Deep, quiet, and alone; B

Though there be fury on the waves, A

Beneath them there is none. B

The awful spirits of the deep C

Hold their communion there; D

And there are those for whom we weep, C

The young, the bright, the fair. D

Calmly the wearied seamen rest E

Beneath their own blue sea. F

The ocean solitudes are blest, E

For there is purity. F

The earth has guilt, the earth has care, D

Unquiet are its graves; A

But peaceful sleep is ever there, D

Beneath the dark blue waves. A

The Ocean is a lyric poem because it describes Hawthorne’s thoughts and feelings about the ocean. It also has 16 lines and 2 stanzas.

Imagery• “Deep, quiet, and alone”-Describes not only the setting and visual aspects but it uses another sensory detail which is sound. It tells us that it is quiet which helps us better understand the loneliness and solitude of the deep ocean.

• “Beneath the dark blue waves”

- This line lets us know that at this particular setting in the poem we under the water of the ocean. It also tells us that visually we will see darkness beneath the blue waves.

• “Though there be fury on the waves” - This line tells gives us a picture of the opposite side of the ocean that is the furious surface.

• “The ocean has its silent caves”

- This line not only describes the image visually but it also uses our auditory senses. Once again we know that the ocean is absolutely silent and that we are in a secluded cave.

Imagery

Rhyme and Repetition

Hawthorne uses repetition (yellow) in this poem when he repeats “the earth” he also uses this figure of speech when he repeats “beneath”

Hawthorne definitely uses end rhyme (green) in The Ocean. He connects words like caves and waves and deep and weep.

The ocean has its silent caves, A

Deep, quiet, and alone. B

Though there be fury on the waves, A

Beneath them there is none. B

The awful spirits of the deep C

Hold their communion there: D

And there are those for whom we weep, C

The young, the bright, the fair. D

Calmly the wearied seamen rest E

Beneath their own blue seas. F

The ocean solitudes are blest, E

For there is purity. F

The earth has guilt, the earth has care, D

Unquiet are its graves; A

But peaceful sleep is ever there, D

Beneath the dark blue waves. A

Hawthorne also uses end rhyme (teal). For example alone and none and purity and seas.

Literal Meaning

•The ocean uses its violent and dangerous side that is the surface, to pull its victims under to the oceans floor. It then pulls the seamen down to the ocean floor where they will forever rest in peace in the darkness, solitude, and loneliness of the oceans depths.

Figurative Meaning

• The hidden meaning of the poem is to describe the two sides of the ocean and how it uses its complete opposite characteristics to make the ocean floor the resting place and grave for many seamen.

Authors Purpose and Theme

• Authors Purpose: The authors purpose is to describe the different characteristics and sides of the ocean. Hawthorne wanted people to see the dark and dangerous side and the side that is calm and secluded.

• Theme: The ocean shows no mercy. It may seem calm, but it can be very dangerous.

Websites

• http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/248362

• http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poet/nathaniel-hawthorne

• http://www.egs.edu/library/nathaniel-hawthorne/biography/

• http://www.islamicinvitationturkey.com/2013/06/26/ship-with-arms-for-syrias-terrorists-in-distress-in-indian-ocean/

• http://www.oceanlight.com/sea_cave_photo.html

• http://redredamisbide.blogspot.com/2011/05/ocean-food-chain-for-kids.html

• http://myweb.rollins.edu/jsiry/FifthDimension.html

• http://freeiphone4wallpapers.com/2010/08/the-ocean/

• http://rmstitanic.home.comcast.net/~rmstitanic/titanichtml/titanicwrecksite.htm

• http://www.stateoftheocean.org/howbad.cfm

• http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12lophelia/logs/july15/media/seasurface.html

• http://galleryhip.com/panorama-ocean.html

• http://www.wensh.net/archive.php/topic/1902.html

• http://jeff-schomays-portfolio.com/