Shores: Stanza 2

“Shores”: Stanza 2

Overview

The second stanza further delves into the beauty of the seashore, highlighting the poet’s strong emotional connection to his environment.
MacLean focuses on the powerful and enriching elements of the sea, drawing out symbolic links to notions of life, time and change.

Analysis

Form and Structure

The stanza possesses a consistent ABBA rhyme scheme: ‘mark/dark/night/bark’, providing a circular balance to the verse’s structure.
The use of caesura, a pause in the middle of a line, in “tide: there is no ceasing”, marks a strong rhythmic impact, emphasizing nature’s relentless cycles.

Language and Imagery

The initial opening line “There is no ebb but has its flow” illustrates the identifiable trait of MacLean’s poetry – his deft use of comparison and contrast. This serves to remind of the constant fluidity of life’s stages.
His use of the metaphor “the dark hour” signifies more than just nightfall, it can be perceived as times of despair or trials in life. Likewise, “sun’s bright mark” stands as a symbol of hope and renewal, revealing the poet’s deeply existential themes.
The phrase “the sea’s wide bark” personifies the sea, drawing an interconnectedness between man and nature.

Tone

This stanza carries a philosophical and contemplative tone, manifest through the profound observations about the cyclical nature of life.
Echoes of melancholy can be identified in words like “ebb” and “dark hour”, yet the stanza also maintains an underlying optimism with the notion of the “sun’s bright mark”.

Context

Hailing from the Hebrides, MacLean’s poetry is imbued with a deep sense of place. The strong maritime imagery reflects his cultural upbringing, whilst simultaneously acting as a potent symbol for life’s ebb and flow.
Through the personification of the sea, we glimpse MacLean’s perception of nature as a living entity, mirroring the human life cycle, an interpretation that is prevalent across his literary works.