The Sea Poem by James Reeves - Poem Hunter

The sea is a hungry dog,

Giant and grey.

He rolls on the beach all day.

With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws Shaggy = hairy

Hour upon hour he gnaws Gnaws = worries

The rumbling, tumbling stones, Rumbling=echoing

And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones! '

The giant sea-dog moans, Moans=whines

Licking his greasy paws. Paws=hands/feet

And when the night wind roars

And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,

He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs, Snuff-overpower = sniff=breath

Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,

And howls and hollos long and loud. Howls=screams Hollo-cry loudly

But on quiet days in May or June,

When even the grasses on the dune Dune =hill

Play no more their reedy tune, reedy=long, slim

With his head between his paws

He lies on the sandy shores,

So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores. Scarcely=just

This poem has a lot of the common figures of speech you might want to identify.

Metaphor - Comparing two unrelated objects, but instead of saying, “this looks like
that,” the poet says, “this is that.”

Example: “The sea is a hungry dog,”

Note: The poet isn’t saying the sea looks/behaves like the dog. He says, the sea is the
dog. It’s a stronger comparison.

Simile - (Not in this poem, but related) A lighter version of the metaphor. Usually has
the words “like” or “as” to make a comparison.

Example: “Sighing like a furnace” (as pointed out in the previous answer).

Personification - Giving live to inanimate objects.

Example: “He rolls on the beach all day.”

Note: The poet gives a human form to the sea by calling it “he”

Imagery - Using words in such a way to convey an image to the reader’s mind. This is
more common in poetry than it’s given credit for.

Examples: “The rumbling, tumbling stones,” and “Licking his greasy paws.”

Note: These words are deeply expressive. As a reader, you get the picture of the sea
rolling around rocks, and how similar it is to a dog licking its paws.

Rhyme - Using words that sound similar.

Examples: “sniffs” and “cliffs” | “June” “tune” and “dune” | “shores” “snores”

Note: This technique is used to give a musical element to the poem, make it sound nicer
to the reader’s ears. It’s like an enhancement technique.

Rhythm - Using words of varied syllable stresses to convey a deeper meaning.

Examples:

The rumbling, tumbling stones,

And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones!'

Note: The words, “rumbling” and “tumbling” each have two syllables (disyllabic words)
and the words “stones” and “bones” have one syllable each (monosyllabic words).
Placing these words (note that they also sound similar) together in close succession, the
poet brings out a rhythmic pattern that reflects the crashing sounds of the waves.

Alliteration - Using words that begin with similar letters or sounds.

Example: “snuffs and sniffs”

Note: The words “snuff” and “sniff” both have the same beginnings: “sn”. When
pronounced in succession, they give a certain ring to the phrase. That’s the use of
Alliteration.

Assonance - Repetition of similar vowel sounds. ( But a repetition of similar consonant

sounds is called Consonance)

Example: “long and loud.”

Note: The vowels in “long” and “loud” have similar sounds.

Repetition - Repeating the same word (consciously) for emphasis.

Example:

And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones! '

The giant sea-dog moans,

Note: The poet repeats “bones” four times to emphasise that the dog and the sea both
make the same sound (moans) all day. It’s a dull routine, and to bring it out, the poet
says it again and again. Also, note that “bones” and “moans” are rhymes, and they are
also long-sounding words that also reflect the dull sounds of the dog and sea.

The poetic techniques used by the poet is so close to us as he

metaphorically describe the sea to giant and grey dog that is one of our
domesticated animal since ages.The dog has been so obedient to human
being to protect and hunt game for us.Equally the is useful for us
innumerous way since the evolution of the earth.However Sea can be so
dangerous and ferocious during the inclement weather conditions bringing
about a lot destruction.In the same note, The dog which is tamed and
obedient the master can be ferocious to an estranger.So the compriosns
made here by the poet is qiute intriguing.
This poem describes and personifies the sea in detail. First it is a hungry
dog and giant and grey, but then it turns out to be peaceful 'With his head
between his paws'.
It's this contrast which makes this poem so special.

"The Sea" by James Reeves is rich in imagery and in creative metaphorical

relations made between the sea and the idea of a dog. The poem is not,
however, rich in theme. In discussing the formal theme of the poem, we can
simply point to central comparison made in the poem that identifies the sea as
being akin to a dog.

The sea is a hungry dog,

Giant and grey.
He rolls on the beach all day.

Formally speaking, the theme of "The Sea" is highly focused on the

equivalency between the sea and the idea of a dog. The sea experiences joy
and feels forlorn. It is happy and it is lazy, etc.

To look at the intellectual or semantic themes of the poem, we might assess

the poem's comment on the sea as an emotional being. The sea, as a
representative of nature (or the natural world), is a living thing with passions
and joys and moods.

And when the night wind roars

[...]
He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,
[...]

And howls and hollos long and loud.

With this personification of nature, the poem may be suggesting that the world
around us can be engaged in some ways as if it were alive, awake and aware.
We might consider the whims of nature and its appetites as elements to be
feared and appreciated and recognize that creatures with appetites can be
unpredictable.

We might also read the poem as implying that the sea is only a small part of a
larger natural system and therefore is subject to forces beyond its control just
as we are -- or just as a dog might be. The sea experiences the weather and
 the sunshine and reacts. It may be huge and powerful but the sea is not in
command of hot and cold, of rain or sunshine.

These readings are available in the poem, yet the overall sense the poem
projects is one of camaraderie and understanding. The voice of the poem is
less awed by the sea than it is sympathetic with the playfulness and
lonesomeness of the sea.

FURTHER READING:
https://www.enotes.com/topics/literary-terms/complete-ind...
https://www.enotes.com/topics/poetry

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FAVORITETHINGS | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

One element of the poem that really strikes me is its mood. We commonly
read poems that depict nature, even the sea itself, as tranquil and calming, or
stories (especially movies) about dogs being "man's best friend." But this
poem does something different with both. The idea that the sea has "clashing
teeth and shaggy jaws," that it "gnaws" and "roars" like an angry, hungry
animal, is a strikingly original comparison: a metaphor, to be exact, as other
commenters have pointed out. Therefore, the mood is not peaceful, and it is
not friendly; instead, it is off-putting, concerning, even frightening. The
unexpected mood draws attention, then, to the idea that even things that
seem lovely, things that are most often depicted as beautiful or kind, can still
have the power to be destructive and menacing. Even when the sea is
tranquil or the dog is companionable, when either one "lies on the sandy
shores," there is still a beast capable of doing real damage underneath that
temporary "quiet."

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MWESTWOOD | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

This poem, which is an extended metaphor, derives its meaning from this
controlling metaphor, that of the sea being like a dog. While not a particularly
complex poem, "The Sea" by J. Reeves does make use of a fresh comparison
with the sea and a dog; in addition, the imagery is imaginative and alive.

The second stanza particularly has strong auditory imagery and visual
imagery. For instance, the "night wind roars" and the "moon rocks." The dog
imagery fits well to the comparison to the waves that come upon the shores at
night:

Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,

And howls and hollos long and loud.

The alliteration also moves the lines forward, like waves.

FURTHER READING:
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-sea-36