Black Waves
Black Waves - meaning Summary
A Night Sea of Loss
The poem sketches a brief, nocturnal scene at sea that moves from a distant, silvered ship to intimate human voices and then back to vast, indifferent ocean. Images of a struggling vessel, a man’s cry, and a sinking star emphasize smallness and isolation. The closing lines shift to an extended, impersonal expanse where "black waves" lap relentlessly, underlining loneliness, loss, and nature’s indifferent continuance.
Read Complete AnalysesI explain the silvered passing of a ship at night, The sweep of each sad lost wave, The dwindling boom of the steel thing's striving, The little cry of a man to a man, A shadow falling across the greyer night, And the sinking of the small star; Then the waste, the far waste of waters, And the soft lashing of the black waves For long and in loneliness.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.