Greece
Greece - meaning Summary
Arrival in Sunlit Greece
The poem recounts a brief sea voyage to Greece, rendered in vivid sensory detail. The speaker notices the sapphire sea and opalescent sky, sails eastward on a fair wind, and names islands and classical landmarks. Sparse sounds—the sail, water, and girls' laughter—heighten the visual focus. The narrative culminates in a sunset and the speaker’s fulfilled arrival on Greek soil, conveying exhilaration, longing satisfied, and an encounter with a storied landscape.
Read Complete AnalysesThe sea was sapphire coloured, and the sky Burned like a heated opal through the air; We hoisted sail; the wind was blowing fair For the blue lands that to the eastward lie. From the steep prow I marked with quickening eye Zakynthos, every olive grove and creek, Ithaca's cliff, Lycaon's snowy peak, And all the flower-strewn hills of Arcady. The flapping of the sail against the mast, The ripple of the water on the side, The ripple of girls' laughter at the stern, The only sounds: -when 'gan the West to burn, And a red sun upon the seas to ride, I stood upon the soil of Greece at last!
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