Once by the Pacific
Robert Frost
Poetry Analysis
"The shattered water made a misty din.
And thought of doing something to the shore
That water never did before.
The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,
Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.
You could not tell, and yet it looked as if
The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,
The cliff in being backed by continent;
It looked as if a night of dark intent
Was coming and not only a night, an age.
Someone had better be prepared for rage.
There would be more than ocean-water broken
Before God's last Put out the Light was spoken."
Interpretation
The harsh and stormy weather is a symbol of God's rage. Saying that it "thought of doing something to the shore that water never did before." (lines three and four) shows the true extent of his anger. Along with the dark intent gives the whole essence of what God plans to do can result in the harm of humans. This is also backed up by the "before God's last Put out the Light was spoken." (line fourteen) which means when it is done there will be no light. That can only mean that the human race will be completely wiped out. This also really gives you the feeling or rage, for God to wipe out the entire human population means he has to be extremely upset. I assume that this poem is talking about Noah's Ark and when God flooded the earth. I assume this for the reason that is because in Genesis 9:11 God said "I will establish my covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth." therefor this would be about Noah's Ark and not a future event. To sum it all up I interpret this poem to be about God's rage with man for the evil they commit and floods the earth also known as the story of Noah's Ark.
Rhyme
Lines Three and Four
"And thought of doing something to the shore That water never did to land before." The rhyme in "shore" and "before" helps to emphasize what will happen and the true power of it, because it has not been done before. It also helps get the theme through by expressing the damage that it going to be done.
Lines Five and Six
"The clouds were low and hairy in the skies, Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes." The strategic rhyme on "skies" and "eyes" helps compare them even better than his colorful language putting extra emphasis on how they are similar and help immensely with imagery and getting an idea for what the sky really looks like, and helps get a cross the theme nicely by describing the sky like eyes which can show expression helping get across the anger in the theme.
Lines Eleven and Twelve
"Was coming, and not only a night, an age. Someone had better be prepared for rage." This is a prime example of using specific words that rhyme to really accent what could be the most important words in the poem. It helps "age" and "rage" stick out and makes you remember those words. Showing that in the "new age" there will be rage, correlating with the theme.
Imagery
Line One
"The shattered water made a misty din." This line is a prime example of imagery and really helps tie back into the theme of rage. It is describing just how hard the waves are hitting the shore, so much that they are making a misty din. This force of the waves correlates with the anger of God.
Line Five
"The clouds were low and hairy in the skies." This also correlates with God's anger. It describes the clouds and how they were "low and hairy" which gives you a stormy idea. Storms are generally harsh just like the theme and what God is supposedly feeling towards humans.
Line Six
"Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes." Lastly line six does a magnificent job of using imagery to portray the theme. It describes how fast the clouds are blowing around, so fast they are "Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes." It helps you imagine a raging storm which is part of the theme, showing God's intent and anger.
Similes
Line Six
"Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes." This simile compares locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes to the clouds. This simile helps you get the theme of anger because it tells you how fast the wind is and how it is whipping the clouds like they are nothing but a lock of hair. This comparison helps get the idea of a nasty storm brewing which is the theme because of God's anger.
Lines Seven and Eight
"You could not tell, and yet it looked as if The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff," This simile portrays the theme in which it shows the extent of God's anger. It is saying that it looks lucky that it is backed by a cliff because of how terrible the storm is going to be and the cliff will provide some protection. This helps portray the theme as well as to the extent that God is so angry cliffs will need to help stop the wrath of his anger.
Lines Ten and Eleven
"It looked as if a night of dark intent Was coming and not only a night, an age." This is probably the best simile in the poem and two of the best lines helping portray the theme. This simile compares the night to have a "dark intent". Of course by dark intent it means the wiping out of man. This really helps get through the theme of God's rage that the storm he has created gives off a feeling that something bad is going to happen. And because it is an age this is only the beginning of an age. It shows the extent of his anger through the use of a simile that expresses the nights bad intent.