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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
In "Sea Knell," John Updike artfully blends whimsical narrative with deep reflections on nature and human existence, using the motif of the sea—a common symbol for the infinite and the eternal—to frame a dialogue between the poet and a whale. This poem is characterized by its interplay between the sublime, as suggested by the references to Byron, and the playful, embodied by the cheerful whale. Through this juxtaposition, Updike explores themes of perception, nature’s messages, and human interpretations of the natural world. The poem opens with an epigraph referencing whale heartbeats, which sets a scientific context, linking the vastness of the ocean to the tangible, rhythmic beating of a whale’s heart. This notion is juxtaposed with a quote from Byron, highlighting the romantic allure and the profound solitude found “on the lonely shore,” where one can perceive both "society" and "music" in the isolation and the roar of the sea. This sets the stage for a contemplative experience, priming the reader for a meditation on the sounds of the ocean. As the speaker wanders to the "surfy marge" to "eavesdrop on the surge," Updike uses vivid, sensory language to describe the act of listening to the ocean, imbuing it with a sense of solemnity akin to a "dirge." This personification of the ocean’s sounds as both a pulse and a melancholic song introduces the central metaphor of the poem—the ocean as a bearer of time’s eternal message, encapsulated in the slow, large beats that resemble the inexorable passing of time, which the speaker muses as "a fatal warning for us." However, the poem takes a playful turn with the introduction of a "jolly whale," who interrupts the speaker's somber reflections. The whale, speaking in a light-hearted tone, contradicts the narrator’s morose interpretation of the ocean’s pulse. Instead, the whale celebrates the heartbeat as a sign of vitality and robust health, "That pulsing merely proves I’m hale / And hearty, matey, too!" This unexpected response from the whale shifts the mood from introspective and somber to one of joy and exuberance. The whale's perspective offers a rejoinder to human tendencies to interpret natural phenomena through a lens colored by our own mortality and concerns. The closing lines, "With that, he plunged in sheer excess / Of spirits. On the shore, / I harkened with an ear much less / Byronic than before," reveal a transformation in the speaker’s attitude. Influenced by the whale’s jovial interpretation, the speaker finds his earlier Byronic (deeply contemplative and somewhat melancholic) disposition giving way to a lighter, more spirited view. This shift underscores the poem's exploration of how interactions with nature can alter our perceptions and mood. "Sea Knell" is a rich poetic narrative that plays with literary references, the philosophical implications of nature’s sounds, and the humorous, enlightening encounters between human and non-human. Updike uses this dialogue not only to entertain but also to reflect on the broader human condition, our fears, and the potential for differing perspectives to change our engagement with the world around us.
| Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ETUDES DE PLUSIERS PAYSAGES DE L' AME: 1 by HAYDEN CARRUTH SAN DIEGO AND MATISSE: 2. OUTSIDE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A ROCKING... by CLARENCE MAJOR BESTIARY U.S.A.: WHALE by ANNE SEXTON WATCHING THE WHALE by ANNIE FINCH THE WHALE IN THE BLUE WASHING MACHINE by JOHN HAINES THE WELLFLEET WHALE by STANLEY JASSPON KUNITZ THE QUAKER GRAVEYARD IN NANTUCKET by ROBERT LOWELL |
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