The sea by James Reeves

The sea by James Reeves

Thalangalle pesala Thero
Buddhist and Pali University
Second year

The Sea, by James Reeves is one of great poems in English literature, It’s basically talks about how the sea is similar to a dog in many occasions. In this poem the poet has Compared  two dissimilar objects by showing similar characteristic and behavior.

 In the first stanza, the poet mentions how the sea is similar to a dog, thus supporting this connection with the latter part of the poem. In the second stanza, the author describes the "dog" as being hungry.  In the third stanza, the poet compares the stormy seas with an active and uncontrollable dog. the dog is inactive and sleeps, scarcely snoring. There is also an extra line at the bottom of the poem that describes how serene the surroundings can be when the dog is asleep.

“The Sea” by James Reeves is a three stanza poem that includes the use of metaphor, imagery, onomatopoeia, and varied rhyming schemes.  In the first stanza, the poet uses a metaphor to say

“The sea is a hungry dog, Giant and gray.” 

Reeves continues the comparison by describing how the waves lap upon the sand in the same way that a dog would bound endlessly through the day, thus giving the sea the qualities of the dog. This metaphor is carried throughout the poem.

The poet is describing the sea on a rough, gry day in this nine line stanza, which has an ABBCCDDDC rhyming scheme. Using vivid imagery, the reader  can see and feel the wildness of the ocean as it crashes along  the shore all day long.  The words “moan”  and “roars” are  examples of onomatopoeia in this stanza.

In the final stanza, the dog metaphor continues but the setting changes to a warm, calm day. The sea is compared to a dog lounging  in the sun as it laps quietly along the sand. AAABCC is the rhyming pattern for the final stanza.

There is no obvious theme or deep meaning to the poem. It is direct in its metaphorical description of the sea. This poem is very scenic and colorful, with every detail described clearly and explicitly. This shows that the poet carefully planned his poem because to reach this goal, the poet has to picture, whether physically or mentally, the scene he plans to describe, So, since he describes every detail distinctly, it shows that the poet has gone through thorough planning.

         This poem creates a vivid picture in the reader. The poet has used a lot of techniques to show the similarities  between a dog and the see. According to these aforementioned factors, it is crystal clear that  the poem which is written by James Reeves is a great and very attractive poem. It has successfully done the comparison of Dog and the sea.