The Brook and the Wave
Birds Of Passage. Flight The Third
The Brook and the Wave - meaning Summary
Freshness Meets Turbulent Heart
Longfellow contrasts a clear mountain brook and a turbulent ocean wave to show how softness can soothe violence. The poem follows the brook’s journey from mountain sands to meet the distant billow, then imagines the brook’s freshness filling and calming the wave’s bitter heart. It uses a brief narrative and elemental imagery to suggest reconciliation, influence across distance, and the civilizing power of gentle forces.
Read Complete AnalysesThe brooklet came from the mountain, As sang the bard of old, Running with feet of silver Over the sands of gold! Far away in the briny ocean There rolled a turbulent wave, Now singing along the sea-beach, Now howling along the cave. And the brooklet has found the billow, Though they flowed so far apart, And has filled with its freshness and sweetness That turbulent, bitter heart!
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