Seascape- Stephen Spender

Seascape- Stephen Spender

Seascape Poem by Stephen Spender 


Stanza One

There are some days the happy ocean lies

Like an unfingered harp, below the land.

Afternoon guilds all the silent wires

Into a burning music for the eyes

On mirrors flashing between fine-strung fires

The shore heaped up with roses, horses, spires

Wanders on water tall above ribbed sand.


Stanza Two 

The motionlessness of the hot sky tires

And a sigh, like a woman’s from inland,

Or bell, or shout, from distant, hedged-in, shires;

These, deep as anchors, the hushing wave buries.

Stanza Three

Then from the shore, two zig-zag butterflies

Like errant dog roses cross the bright strand

They drown. Fishermen understand

Such wings sunk in such ritual sacrifice.


Stanza Four 

Remembering legends of undersea, drowned cities.

What voyagers, oh what heroes, flamed like pyres

Glitter with coins through the tide scarcely scanned,

 While, far above, that harp assumes their sighs. 


Analysis of the poem Seascape by Stephen Spender 

Description of the poem Seascape by Stephen Spender 

1. About the poet Stephen Spender

Seascape- Stephen Spender

  1. Poet and critic Stephen Spender was born in 1909 in London.

  2.  He was a member of the Oxford Poets.

  3. He was a professor of English at the university college.

  4. Spender’s poem has a dreary and hovering sensibility.

  5. Like Auden, Spender becomes famous as the ‘Pyson poet’.

  6. Spender was a writer of sensitivity and power.

2.

  1. In the poem Seascape Stephen Spender used a number of literary devices to convey the various characteristics and aspects of the sea.

  2. The poet emphasizes the power of the sea over humanity.

  3. The power of the sea over the deceptive nature which it displays over humanity.

  4. The poem revolves around the notion of sound as a means of conveying the different faces of the sea.

  5. The tone is an important device that is used to mimic the motion of the waves.

  6. As a consequence of the sea’s rigorous activity.

  7. The unaware ones often have their lives taken away.

  8. Thus the theme of death is one that is highly prevalent.

  9. A tone can be observed used by Spender, ‘wanders on water, walking above ribbed seas’.

  10. The use of alliteration in the repetition of the consonant ‘w’.

  11. This consonant ‘w’ is representative of the slow movement of the sea.

  12.  The sentences are softly flowing almost containing no punctuation.

  13. By the middle of the poem, the tone switches to full aggression and brutality.

  14. Further, the poem seems to be packed with different ideas, coming one after another.

  15. But we find that at the end of the poem, the tone return to calm and peace.

  16. The rhyming scheme suggests, suggests the unpredictability of the sea’s activity.

  17. Spender repeatedly refers to the destruction caused by the violent sea.

  18. The poet describes the sea as behind “below the land” which signifies the grave. 

  19. The “ribbed sand” is perhaps suggestive of a human skeleton.

  20. The fourth stanza of the poem follows a different viewpoint of the ocean.

  21. The poet spends the first half giving a picture of the peacefulness of the sea. 

  22. The second half describes its silent killings.

  23. We find several metaphors whereby the poet emphasizes the power of the sea. 


Summary of the poem Seascape by Stephen Spender 

‘Seascape’ by Stephen Spender is an interesting poem about the sea and its power over humanity. 

In the first part of the poem, the speaker begins by describing the sea as a peaceful, quiet, unfingered harp. It’s sitting, waiting for something to happen. When the sea is stimulated, by even the smallest occurrence, a great deal of death can result. The poet uses the final stanza to bring in images of travellers and explorers who believed they could control or conquer the sea but have been lost to it. 

The theme of the poem Seascape by Stephen Spender 

The main theme of this poem is nature. Specifically, the poet focuses on the sea’s power and how despite what it might seem at times (as an “unfingered harp”) a small change (as small as a woman’s sigh) can result in immense destruction. It takes what it wants and will not be denied its ritual sacrifice. This is something that is meant to remind readers of how important death is in order to stimulate new life. 


Structure and Form

‘Seascape’ by Stephen Spender is a four-stanza poem that is divided into stanzas of either seven or six lines. The first and fourth stanzas have seven Ines, and the second and fourth have six. The first stanza follows a rhyme scheme of ABCACCB. The second uses some of the same end sounds but is more loosely arranged. Lines one and five rhyme as do lines two and three. The third stanza rhymes ABCABD, and the fourth rhymes: ABCDBCD. It’s unusual for Spender to utilize such a complicated rhyme scheme, but it is highly effective in this context as he emphasizes the changeable nature of the sea.

Literary Devices 

Throughout this poem, the poet makes use of several literary devices. These include but are not limited to: 


  • Simile: occurs when the poet uses “like” or “as” to compare one thing to another. For instance, the poet compares the sea to an “unfingered harp” in the first stanza. 

  • Personification: the poet repetitively personifies the ocean by describing it with human-based images. For example, describing it as “happy” in the first stanza. 

  • Allusion: a reference to something outside the direct scope of the poem. In this case, the poet alludes vaguely to the centuries of travellers and adventurers who have lost their lives at sea in the last stanza. 

  • Imagery: occurs when the poet uses a particularly interesting description that is meant to help readers envision a scene or feel emotion with great detail. For example, “Such wings sunk in such ritual sacrifice.”