The Seafarer Diction

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“We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again, until the day we don’t come back leaving only that which was touched along the way.” This quote from the movie Chasing Mavericks perfectly captures the undying passion to return to the sea exhibited by the seafarers of the Anglo-Saxon time. In the lyrical poem The Seafarer the storyteller displays his shifting mood toward the sea and his life as a seafarer through diction, imagery, and other literary elements. In the opening stanza of the poem the tone the author expresses is dark and suffering. This section displays the severity of living life as a seafarer and the discomfort of life at sea. The use of …show more content…

Beginning in the third stanza, the author’s diction is much lighter as he compares his horrifying life at sea to the ease of life on land. Negative syntax combined with the positive diction reveals the life seafarers sacrifice to be isolated at sea. The author divulges the longing he has for a life on earth. The optimistic diction contradicts the dreadful diction of life at sea made clear in the first section thus lending understanding of how much passion one must have to continue to leave this life only for one of peril at sea. The use of a question, “who could understand…what we others suffer…?”, shows the author’s misunderstood longing to return to sea. The tone is ardent as the author expresses his deep felt passion and longing to return to the sea despite the danger and choice of an easier life on …show more content…

The author begins in using the word “we”. This reaches out and alerts the reader to what he is about to say. This idea that we are all affected brings the readers emotions forward and makes the words on the page become a reality. This is an important idea in teaching others about morals. Also, the author uses advice to deliver his point, as he lists several biblical lessons. The author is seen reflecting on religion with a hopeful tone. The author uses praise in the last lines of the poem. This, along with the closing Amen, shows us the spiritual side and moralizing tone of the author as he concludes his

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