Analysis of The Ocean Strand
Clive Staples Lewis 1898 (Clive Staples Lewis Belfast) – 1963 (Oxford)
O leave the labouring roadways of the town,
The shifting faces and the changeful hue
Of markets, and broad echoing streets that drown
The heart’s own silent music. Though they too
Sing in their proper rhythm, and still delight
The friendly ear that loves warm human kind,
Yet it is good to leave them all behind,
Now when from lily dawn to purple night
Summer is queen,
Summer is queen in all the happy land.
Far, far away among the valleys green
Let us go forth and wander hand in hand
Beyond those solemn hills that we have seen
So often welcome home the falling sun
Into their cloudy peaks when day was done—
Beyond them till we find the ocean strand
And hear the great waves run,
With the waste song whose melodies I’d follow
And weary not for many a summer day,
Born of the vaulted breakers arching hollow
Before they flash and scatter into spray,
On, if we should be weary of their play
Then I would lead you further into land
Where, with their ragged walls, the stately rocks
Shunt in smooth courts and paved with quiet sand
To silence dedicate. The sea-god’s flocks
Have rested here, and mortal eyes have seen
By great adventure at the dead of noon
A lonely nereid drowsing half a-swoon
Buried beneath her dark and dripping locks.
Scheme | ABABCDDCEFEFEGGFGHIHIIFJFJEKKJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (27%) |
Metre | 11011101 010100011 11001100111 0111010111 10110100101 0101111101 1111111101 1111011101 1011 1011010101 1101010101 1111010101 0111011111 1101010101 0111011111 0111110101 010111 10111100110 01011100101 11010101010 0111010011 1111110111 1111110011 1111010101 1011011101 110100111 1101010111 1101010111 01011101 1001010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,225 |
Words | 229 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 30 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 988 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 227 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 1:08 min read
- 74 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Ocean Strand" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6966/the-ocean-strand>.
Discuss this Clive Staples Lewis poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In