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This poem is simple enough at the literal level. A young girl walks
to the sea with her dog; she enjoys herself until the tide catches her;
she becomes frightened and runs to the town for safety. The metaphors "His Silver Heel" and
"Pearl" describe a wave breaking and the foam. She realistically
describes the feeling of being unexpectedly engulfed by a wave ("would
eat me up"). The dog offers companionship but not protection.
The poem also has a symbolic level. What is clear is that initially the
speaker is welcomed by the Sea, then attacked and frightened by it. Less
clear is what the Sea represents and what the meaning of her experience
is. Several possibilities suggest themselves: the Sea represents (1)
sexuality, (2) the unconscious, (3) death, or (4) nature.
Sexuality
The speaker is female and innocent whereas the sea is male and
aggressive. She chooses to go to the Sea; "visited" indicates the Sea was her destination. She is initially attracted to the Sea, which is admiring;
the mermaids "came out to look at me" from the ocean bottom. Ships offer
her help ("Hempen Hands" are ropes) because she is perceived as a
"Mouse"; what qualities do we associate with a mouse, and would any of
them be appropriate here?
In stanzas one and two, Dickinson uses the metaphor of a house to
describe the Sea; the ocean bottom is the "Basement" and the surface is
"the Upper Floor." Is a house ordinarily a threatening or dangerous
image? Is there any hint of menace in these stanzas?
With stanza three, the Sea is
personified as a man. The speaker is sexually innocent ("But no Man
moved Me"), though she presumably has felt secure up to this point. Now,
she is sexually moved; she states no man "moved Me--till the Tide"
engulfed her. The Tide moves up her body, higher than her bodice or
chest. Engulfed and threatened by sexual feeling, she "started." Is she having an orgasm?
You can decide by thinking about the text. In
this interpretation of the poem, "His Silver Heel" and the overflowing
"Pearl" have sexual meanings.
She fears the sexual experience and orgasm because of the possible loss of
identity and sense of autonomy ("would eat me up"). She fears her
identity would be consumed as completely by sexual experience as "a Dew" is
consumed by the ocean. The repetition and emphasis of "And He--He
followed close" betrays how strong her fear is; this phrasing calls
particular attention to itself because it is the only repetition in the poem.
"Close" suggests what a close escape she finally has if you think she
does not have sex with him; alternately, you may read this as a reference
to her sexual experience and orgasm.
She is protected from the Sea's sexual advances by the town. What is
represented by the Town? why is it presented as an alternative to the Sea
or nature? Solid can mean (1) resistant to pressure, not easily
changed in shape, (2) substantial, firm, and (3) matter, opposite of
liquid. Which meaning or meanings are appropriate?
The Sea departs, "bowing" and "with a Mighty look." Is he acknowledging
a worthy opponent, someone who outdid him? or is his acknowledgement
ironic? Has she reached safety and overcome his threatening advances?
(How aggressive was He? in how much danger, if any, was she?) Or has she
rejected her own sexuality and the possibility of sexual fulfillment?
Is the end of this poem life-affirming or life-denying?
Dickinson wrote in a letter, "The shore is safer...but I love to buffet the sea." Does this assetion
have any relevance to this poem? The answer is going to depend on how you read the poem.
The Unconscious and Death
As you know from reading her poetry, Dickinson was aware of our inner world
or unconscious and the havoc that the
eruption of the unconscious might bring. The unconscious is often
compared to the ocean; its
overwhelming an individual or its potential for overwhelming an
individual is commonly compared to being buried in a wave.
The unconscious and death have a close connection. Being swamped by
the unconscious involves a loss of sense of identity and control; thus,
it can be seen as a death, even if only a brief death. Of course death
is the ultimate lapsing into unconsciousness or non-being.
Sex is connected with the unconscious and with death. I have already
discussed the orgasm as involving a temporary loss of identity and
consciousness. Because of this experience, the sixteenth and seventeenth
poets referred to orgasm as "dying," a usage that survives in modern poetry;
and the French still refer to orgasm as "the small death."
Nature
The Sea as a symbol of nature is obvious, and all of us are aware
of how deadly nature can be.
A Final Interpretation
Essentially my discussion of the Sea as sexuality applies to an
interpretation of the Sea as death and/or as the unconscious or as
nature. So please do not be influenced by my developing the sexual interpretation in detail.
Try reading the poem with the sea as death or as the
unconscious or as nature. Or you may develop an interpretation which differs from any that
I have suggested.
See which interpretation you prefer. Be clear about why you
prefer it.
What is important is that you think about the poem and reach your own conclusions,
based on your understanding.
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