The Sea

J.Reeves has successfully used the dog metaphor to elicit the behaviors of the sea at many occasions. The poet compares the different behaviors of the dog at different moods with the sea. The first stanza shows the begining of the violence due to the hungry nature of the dog which metaphoricaly depicts the sea waves turning out to be heavy and rough. The second stanza shows the waves quickening and becoming more rough due to the enviromental change, thereby the dog is so hungry and angry that it is ready to eat anything it finds. While the third stanza depicting the total calmness and quietness of the sea which means that the dog, after undergoing all these it becomes tired and falls asleep where it has neither the strength to snore. Therefore it shows how successful is the dog metaphor to the different moods of the sea.
The Sea by James Reeves
The Sea by James Reeves
The criterion of the actions of the sea and its behaviour pattern is eloquently depicted in the poem. The Sea, James Reeve’s diction style, rhythm and thyme, the metaphors and the tone itself create the actual image of changing moods of the sea.
Firstly James Reeves introduces the sea in the form of “a hungry dog” with all its activities, actions and reactions. The reader is able to visualise the image of the “hungry dog” “clashing teeth and shaggy jaws” Hour upon hour he gnaws”.
The awful sound of the waves rolling towards the beach with his “Clashing teeth and shaggy jaws”. Usually the sea is compared to the grace and beauty of a woman, expressing the movements of the feminine gender, but here James Reeves has employed a character of the canine; the drastic actions of the angry sea . “The rumbling tumbling stones”.
“And bones, bones, bones, bones”.
The repetition of the word BONES mirrors forth the drastic actions and the fierce behaviour pattern of the SEA DOG. Every action is symbolised by the giant Sea Dog.
“Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs and howls and hollows long and ‘loud”
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