Sea Lullaby Essay, Research Paper

Sea Lullaby by Elinor Wylie

This poem is written in a way as if the poet was sitting on the beach watching the sea and a little boy. Elinor starts us out with the surrounding visual of a scene that is not pleasant. She talks of a smoke-tarnished moon and dead leaves with the color of blood. This is very morbid. She goes on to mention very openly of a child being murdered and how the sea was joyful to win her fight with a little boy.

At first glance of the title, “Sea Lullaby”, I didn’t think it was going to be a morbid poem. The sea is to some people very soothing. Lullabies tend to calm babies down before bedtime. So, in turn, I had a vision of calm and peaceful poem. After reading it, it reminded me of a child’s lullaby song of “Rock-A-By-Baby”. Unless you listen to the words you would think it was just another lullaby to sing a child to sleep. “Rock-A-By-Baby” is sung about wind breaking a bow of a tree and making the cradle fall to the ground. That is not a comforting lullaby either.

Both of these lullabies show us the horrible side of nature. When we were young, we thought the world was such a peaceful place to play and have no worries. But when we read or listen to the so-called lullabies we realize how destructive nature can be. It makes us feel like we have no control of our surroundings.