Sea Song
I will think no more of the sea!Of the big green wavesAnd the hollowed shore,Of the brown rock cavesNo more, no moreOf the swell and the weedAnd the bubbling foam.
Memory dwells in my far away home,She has nothing to do with me.
She is old and bentWith a packOn her back.Her tears all spent,Her voice, just a crack.With an old thorn stickShe hobbles along,And a crazy songNow slow, now quickWheeks in her throat.
And every dayWhile there’s light on the shoreShe searches for something,Her withered clawTumbles the seaweed;She pokes in each shellGroping and mumblingUntil the nightDeepens and darkens,And covers her quite,And bids her be silent,And bids her be still.
The ghostly feetOf the whispery wavesTiptoe beside her.They follow, followTo the rocky cavesIn the white beach hollow ...She hugs her hands,She sobs, she shrills,And the echoes shriekIn the rocky hills.She moans: “It is lost!Let it be! Let it be!I am old. I’m too cold.I am frightened ... the seaIs too loud ... it is lost,It is gone...” MemoryWails in my far away home.
Words in this poem
- mumbling a.
- Low; indistinct; inarticulate.
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- tiptoe n.
- The end, or tip, of the toe.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sea Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #59276; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Katherine Mansfield, Sea Song, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/sea-song.html, id L27594.
Form and metre
Sea Song is 48 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 -ABAB-- sea · wavesA · shoreB · cavesA · moreB · weed · foam
- 3 ABBABCDDC- bentA · packB · backB · spentA · crackB · stickC · alongD · songD · quickC · throat
- 4 -------A-A-- day · shore · something · claw · seaweed · shell · mumbling · nightA · darkens · quiteA · silent · still
- 5 -A-BAB-C-CDE-ED-- feet · wavesA · her · followB · cavesA · hollowB · hands · shrillsC · shriek · hillsC · lostD · beE · cold · seaE · lostD · memory · home
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I will think no more of the sea! | 8 | ········ |
| Of the big green waves | 5 | ····· |
| And the hollowed shore, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Of the brown rock caves | 5 | ····· |
| No more, no more | 4 | ···· |
| Of the swell and the weed | 6 | ······ |
| And the bubbling foam. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Memory dwells in my far away home, | 9 | /˘····˘/· |
| She has nothing to do with me. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| She is old and bent | 5 | ····· |
| With a pack | 3 | ··· |
| On her back. | 3 | ··· |
| Her tears all spent, | 4 | ···· |
| Her voice, just a crack. | 5 | ····· |
| With an old thorn stick | 5 | ····· |
| She hobbles along, | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| And a crazy song | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Now slow, now quick | 4 | ···· |
| Wheeks in her throat. | 4 | ···· |
| And every day | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| While there’s light on the shore | 6 | ······ |
| She searches for something, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Her withered claw | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Tumbles the seaweed; | 5 | /˘·/· |
| She pokes in each shell | 5 | ····· |
| Groping and mumbling | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Until the night | 4 | ···· |
| Deepens and darkens, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| And covers her quite, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And bids her be silent, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And bids her be still. | 5 | ····· |
| The ghostly feet | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of the whispery waves | 6 | ······ |
| Tiptoe beside her. | 5 | /·˘/· |
| They follow, follow | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| To the rocky caves | 5 | ··/˘· |
| In the white beach hollow ... | 6 | ····/˘ |
| She hugs her hands, | 4 | ···· |
| She sobs, she shrills, | 4 | ···· |
| And the echoes shriek | 5 | ··/˘· |
| In the rocky hills. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| She moans: “It is lost! | 5 | ····· |
| Let it be! Let it be! | 6 | ······ |
| I am old. I’m too cold. | 6 | ······ |
| I am frightened ... the sea | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Is too loud ... it is lost, | 6 | ······ |
| It is gone...” Memory | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Wails in my far away home. | 7 | ····˘/· |
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.