The Sea Spirit
I smile o'er the wrinkled blue—Lo! the sea is fair,Smooth as the flow of a maiden's hair;And the welkin's light shines throughInto mid-sea caverns of beryl hue,And the little waves laugh and the mermaids sing,And the sea is a beautiful, sinuous thing!
I scowl in sullen guise—The sea grows dark and dun,The swift clouds hide the sunBut not the bale-light in my eyes,And the frightened wind as it fliesRuffles the billows with stormy wing,And the sea is a terrible, treacherous thing!
When moonlight glimmers dimI pass in the path of the mist,Like a pale spirit by spirits kissed.At dawn I chant my own weird hymn,And I dabble my hair in the sunset's rim,And I call to the dwellers along the shoreWith a voice of gramarye evermore.
And if one for love of meGives to my call an ear,I will woo him and hold him dear,And teach him the way of the sea,And my glamor shall ever over him be;Though he wander afar in the cities of menHe will come at last to my arms again.
Words in this poem
- scowl v. i.
- To wrinkle the brows, as in frowning or displeasure; to put on a frowning look; to look sour, sullen, severe, or angry. [Akin to Dan. skule; cf. Icel. skolla to skulk, LG. schulen to hide one's self, D. schuilen, G. schielen to squint, Dan. skele, Sw. skela, AS. sceolh squinting. ]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- gramarye n.
- Necromancy; magic. [OE. gramer, grameri, gramori, grammar, magic, OF. gramaire, F. grammaire. See Grammar.]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sea Spirit is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Watchman and Other Poems (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1917; Toronto: McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart, 1916), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: L. M. Montgomery, The Sea Spirit, in The Watchman and Other Poems (1916), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/montgomery-watchman/the-sea-spirit.html, id L29372.
Form and metre
The Sea Spirit is 28 lines in 4 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBAACC. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAACC blueA · fairB · hairB · throughA · hueA · singC · thingC
- 2 ABBAACC guiseA · dunB · sunB · eyesA · fliesA · wingC · thingC
- 3 ABBAACC dimA · mistB · kissedB · hymnA · rimA · shoreC · evermoreC
- 4 ABBAACC meA · earB · dearB · seaA · beA · menC · againC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I smile o'er the wrinkled blue— | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Lo! the sea is fair, | 5 | ····· |
| Smooth as the flow of a maiden's hair; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And the welkin's light shines through | 7 | ······· |
| Into mid-sea caverns of beryl hue, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| And the little waves laugh and the mermaids sing, | 11 | ··/˘····/·· |
| And the sea is a beautiful, sinuous thing! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I scowl in sullen guise— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The sea grows dark and dun, | 6 | ······ |
| The swift clouds hide the sun | 6 | ······ |
| But not the bale-light in my eyes, | 8 | ········ |
| And the frightened wind as it flies | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Ruffles the billows with stormy wing, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And the sea is a terrible, treacherous thing! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| When moonlight glimmers dim | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| I pass in the path of the mist, | 8 | ········ |
| Like a pale spirit by spirits kissed. | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| At dawn I chant my own weird hymn, | 8 | ········ |
| And I dabble my hair in the sunset's rim, | 11 | ··/˘····/·· |
| And I call to the dwellers along the shore | 11 | ·····/˘˘/·· |
| With a voice of gramarye evermore. | 10 | ····/˘˘/˘· |
| And if one for love of me | 7 | ······· |
| Gives to my call an ear, | 6 | ······ |
| I will woo him and hold him dear, | 8 | ········ |
| And teach him the way of the sea, | 8 | ········ |
| And my glamor shall ever over him be; | 9 | ··/˘·/··· |
| Though he wander afar in the cities of men | 12 | ··/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| He will come at last to my arms again. | 10 | ········˘/ |
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.