Wave After Wave
OUT of the bosom of the sea,From coasts where dim, rich treasures be,By vast and urging forces blent,Untired, untiring, and unspent,The glad waves speed them one by one;And, goal attained and errand done,They lap the sands and softly lave,—Wave after wave, wave after wave.
As stirred by longing for reposeHigher and higher each wave goes,Striving to clasp with foam-white handsThe yielding and eluding sands;And still the sea, relentless, grim,Calls his wild truants back to him,—Recalls the liberty he gaveWave after wave, wave after wave.
All sad at heart and desolateThey heed the call, they bow to fate;And outward swept, a baffled train,Each feels his effort was in vain.But fed by impulse lent by eachThe gradual tide upon the beachRises to full, and thunders brave,Wave after wave, wave after wave.
Ah, tired, discouraged heart and head,Look up, and be thou comforted!Thy puny effort may seem vain,Wasted thy toil and naught thy pain,Thy brief sun quench itself in shade,Thy worthiest strength be weakness made,Caught up in one great whelming grave,Wave after wave, wave after wave.
Yet still, though baffled and denied,Thy spended strength has swelled the tide.A feather’s weight where oceans roll—One atom in a mighty whole—God’s hand uncounted agenciesMarshals and notes and counts as his:His sands to bind, his threads to save,His tides to build, wave after wave.
Words in this poem
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
- relentless a.
- Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
- puny a.
- Imperfectly developed in size or vigor; small and feeble; inferior; petty. [F. puîté younger, later born, OF. puisné; puis afterwards (L. post; see Post-) + né born, L. natus. See Natal, and cf. Puisne.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wave After Wave is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Wave After Wave, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/wave-after-wave.html, id L23458.
Form and metre
Wave After Wave is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCCDD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDD seaA · beA · blentB · unspentB · oneC · doneC · laveD · waveD
- 2 AABBCCDD reposeA · goesA · handsB · sandsB · grimC · himC · gaveD · waveD
- 3 AABBCCDD desolateA · fateA · trainB · vainB · eachC · beachC · braveD · waveD
- 4 AABBCCDD headA · comfortedA · vainB · painB · shadeC · madeC · graveD · waveD
- 5 AABBCCDD deniedA · tideA · rollB · wholeB · agenciesC · hisC · saveD · waveD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| OUT of the bosom of the sea, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From coasts where dim, rich treasures be, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By vast and urging forces blent, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Untired, untiring, and unspent, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The glad waves speed them one by one; | 8 | ········ |
| And, goal attained and errand done, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| They lap the sands and softly lave,— | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wave after wave, wave after wave. | 8 | ········ |
| As stirred by longing for repose | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Higher and higher each wave goes, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Striving to clasp with foam-white hands | 8 | /˘······ |
| The yielding and eluding sands; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And still the sea, relentless, grim, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Calls his wild truants back to him,— | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Recalls the liberty he gave | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Wave after wave, wave after wave. | 8 | ········ |
| All sad at heart and desolate | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They heed the call, they bow to fate; | 8 | ········ |
| And outward swept, a baffled train, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Each feels his effort was in vain. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But fed by impulse lent by each | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The gradual tide upon the beach | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Rises to full, and thunders brave, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Wave after wave, wave after wave. | 8 | ········ |
| Ah, tired, discouraged heart and head, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Look up, and be thou comforted! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Thy puny effort may seem vain, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Wasted thy toil and naught thy pain, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Thy brief sun quench itself in shade, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Thy worthiest strength be weakness made, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Caught up in one great whelming grave, | 8 | ········ |
| Wave after wave, wave after wave. | 8 | ········ |
| Yet still, though baffled and denied, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Thy spended strength has swelled the tide. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A feather’s weight where oceans roll— | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| One atom in a mighty whole— | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| God’s hand uncounted agencies | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Marshals and notes and counts as his: | 8 | /˘······ |
| His sands to bind, his threads to save, | 8 | ········ |
| His tides to build, wave after wave. | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.