The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls

The Tide Rises,
the
Tide
By Henry Wadsworth Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow
Junior English
Mountain Pointe
High School
Falls

Introduction
• Tid Tide rising i i and d falling f lli = progression i of f life lif
• No man can speed process up or slow it
down
– Just as sun rises and sets
• Tide, sun, and time stop for no man…they
go g
on…and on…and on…

Stanza Stanza 1
• Th The tide tid rises, i the th tide tid f falls, ll A
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea sea-sands sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town, ,
And the tide rises, the tide falls. A
What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?
A
B
B

Stanza 1 1 Analysis
Analysis
• There are places, as Longfellow would have been
aware, where h iti it is only l possible ibl to t cross an inlet i l t at t
low tide
• First stanza
• Traveler is hastening toward the town
• To traveler, reason for journey is is: :
– Vitally important
– Worth the risk risk of racing the tide tide to to reach reach other side
side
• He loses race and the tide reaches traveler
before attaining important goal

Stanza 2
• Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, sea, the sea sea in in darkness darkness calls;
calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands
Efface the footprints in the sands,
sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
What words are repeated in first two lines? Darkness and Sea
What effect does this have on the poem?
It creates t a somber b atmosphere t h
What type of figurative language is being
used here? Personification

• Second stanza:
Stanza 2 2 Analysis
Analysis
– Wh What h happens after f d death h
– Footprints being washed away by waves
symbolizes b li th that t you may b be f forgotten tt after ft
death

• Themes
Stanza 2 2 Analysis
Analysis
– Man pitting himself against nature
• Man loses
– Tide rises and the tide falls
• Nature will will overcome overcome everything everything man man tries tries to to do do to
to
overcome it
– Tide will keep p rising g and falling g and traveler is
forgotten

Stanza Stanza 3
The The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day day returns returns, but but nevermore
nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, rises the tide falls falls.
Which Which poetic poetic device device is is being being used used in in the the first first two two lines?
lines?
Alliteration

• Third Third stanza:
stanza:
Stanza 3 3 Analysis
Analysis
– Symbolizes that life does continue even if you
are not not around to see it
it
• Tide will continue to rise and fall just like life will go
on and people may die along the way

What is Longfellow trying trying to to tell tell us?
us?
• Longfellow Longfellow paints very bleak picture
– Whatever we do, time and tide will wash away
the the memory of of ourselves and and our our actions
actions

The Message?
Message?
• The hostler, with calming calming influence influence and and slow
slow
and steady approach will have more impact
on life and history y than traveler
• The one who fights against time and tide tide–
and loses loses–will will be forgotten g long g before the
other who moves with the tide and accepts
nature for what it is

Themes
• The tide rising and falling, contrasts, or is just the opposite
of f man, i in that h it i is i a constant, like lik time i
– Time marches on
– This is nature
• Man, has a time limit here on earth
– Man will die
– Man can keep p coming g to the tide, , for every y day y of his entire
life
• Man will die, but the tide will continue to rise and fall,
whether he is alive to see it, or not
• The tide is forever young, while man is forever older
• Man has a time limit, while tide and time have none

• Theme of death
Themes e es
– Using ocean as a symbol of life and the town town as a symbol of
death
• Overall progression that the stanzas go through:
– First stanza
• Actual death of the traveler
– Second stanza
• What happens after is death
– Third stanza
• How life goes g on, even if
someone di dies

Tone
• Tone i is accepting i and calm
• Using words that relate to the ocean, which
most people associate with serenity and
tranquility
• Author understands that he is going to die
one day y or another
– Something that he cannot avoid

Messages
•
•
General message about
death
Author associates associates darkness
darkness
with death, ocean with life,
and light with heaven
• Indirect message
– People should do all they can
in life
• Once life is gone it will
never come back
• Once a person p reaches
death:
– Legacy can be forgotten
• Go to heaven (or hell)
• N Never return t t to lif life
– Should be all they can be
and dd do nothing thi t to regret t past t
actions
– Death is unavoidable, but
that does not mean it must
b bbe be f feared d
• Rising and falling of the
tide
– D Death thi is constant t t and d
forever
– People cannot stop death
from coming

To To Sum Sum It Up
• Elements of romanticism:
– Longfellow portrays death as
• A fact of life
• An inevitable occurrence occurrence to to be be accepted
accepted
• Not to be feared
– Symbolic y nature of tides suggest gg that death, , like
ocean, is continual, and forever
• Just as one cannot stop the tides of the ocean
erasing erasing their "footprints footprints in the sands" sands , or
rather their existence in the world, one
cannot stop death from claiming his/her life

Work Cited
Cited
• Longfellow, g , Henry y Wadsworth. “The Tide Rises, , the Tide
Falls.” Elite Skills Classic 2007. Google.com. 05
November 2007 < . >.