1. By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Ocean
By: Nathaniel Hawthorne

2. The Ocean has its silent caves, Deep, quiet, and alone; Though there be fury on the waves, Beneath them there is none. The awful spirits of the deep Hold their communion there; And there are those for whom we weep, The young, the bright, the fair. Calmly the wearied seamen rest Beneath their own blue sea. The ocean solitudes are blest, For there is purity. The earth has guilt, the earth has care, Unquiet are its graves; But peaceful sleep is ever there, Beneath the dark blue waves.

3. Nathaniel Hawthorne Born 1804 – 1864 into a prominent family.
Attended Bowdoin College in 1821.
Not only was he a poet but he wrote novels that were based on romance.
Writer of Twice-Told Tales, Young Goodman Brown, The Scarlet Letter, and The House of Seven Gables.
Lost his father at sea.
Died on his way to his dear friend, Franklin Pierce’s house in New Hampshire.

4. Organization, Structure, and Form
The Ocean has its silent caves, A
Deep, quiet, and alone; B
Though there be fury on the waves, A
Beneath them there is none. B
The awful spirits of the deep C
Hold their communion there; D
And there are those for whom we weep, C
The young, the bright, the fair. D
Calmly the wearied seamen rest E
Beneath their own blue sea. F
The ocean solitudes are blest, E
For there is purity. F
The earth has guilt, the earth has care, D
Unquiet are its graves; A
But peaceful sleep is ever there, D
Beneath the dark blue waves. A
The Ocean is a lyric poem because it describes Hawthorne’s thoughts and feelings about the ocean. It also has 16 lines and 2 stanzas.

5. Imagery “Deep, quiet, and alone”
-Describes not only the setting and visual aspects but it uses another sensory detail of sound. It tells us that it is quiet which helps us better understand the loneliness and solitude of the deep ocean.
“Beneath the dark blue waves”
- This line lets us know that at this particular line in the poem we under the water of the ocean. It also tells us that visually we will see darkness beneath the blue waves.

6. “Though there be fury on the waves” This line tells gives us a picture of the opposite side of the ocean that is the furious surface.
“The ocean has its silent caves”
- This describes the a visually and auditory image. Once again we know that the ocean is absolutely silent and that we are in a secluded cave.
Imagery

7. Rhyme and Repetition
Hawthorne definitely uses end rhyme in The Ocean. He connects words like caves and waves and deep and weep.
Hawthorne uses repetition in this poem when he repeats “the earth” he also uses this figure of speech when he repeats “beneath”

8. Literal Meaning
The ocean uses its violent and dangerous side that is the surface, to pull its victims under to the oceans floor. It then pulls the seamen down to the ocean floor where they will forever rest in peace in the darkness, solitude, and loneliness of the oceans depths.

9. Figurative Meaning.
The hidden meaning of the poem is to describe the two sides of the ocean and how it uses its complete opposite characteristics to make the ocean floor the resting place and grave for many seamen.

10. Author’s Purpose and Theme
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s purpose for writing “The Ocean” was to explain an event that he experienced. In his life, he lost his father at sea and the poem was a way to describe to others his father’s story. In the poem it says “Calmly the wearied seamen rest, beneath their own blue seas” which not only describes the loss of his father but then helps us understand why he wrote the poem in the first place.
Theme
The theme of the poem is nature and what natural causes can do. In the poem it describes things that happen in nature and the effect that it can have on people, places, and things.

11. Websites http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/248362
distress-in-indian-ocean/