Answers for The Shell LOTF Poetry By Aakarsh Jain and David Attia
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Nov 24, 2024
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THE SHELL
AND then I pressed the shell
Close to my ear
And listened well,
And straightway like a bell
Came low and clear
The slow, sad murmur of the distant seas,
Whipped by an icy breeze
Upon a shore
Wind-swept and desolate.
It was a sunless strand that never bore
The footprint of a man,
Nor felt the weight
Since time began
Of any human quality or stir
Save what the dreary winds and waves incur.
And in the hush of waters was the sound
Of pebbles rolling round,
Forever rolling with a hollow sound.
And bubbling sea-weeds as the waters go
Swish to and fro
Their long, cold tentacles of slimy gray.
There was no day,
Nor ever came a night
Setting the stars alight
To wonder at the moon:
Was twilight only and the frightened croon,
Smitten to whimpers, of the dreary wind
And waves that journeyed blind-
And then I lost my ear ... O, it was sweet
To hear a cart go jolting down the street.
James Stephens
Analysis Questions
: Done by group Aakarsh Jain and David Attia
1. /3 What is the overarching theme of the poem - or what aspects of human existence
is the author trying to explore? How do you know?
I think the theme the author is trying to explore is human loneliness. When I read the poem, I observed that normally when
the author is in society, he wants to escape it by putting a conch to his ear to experience loneliness, and when he actually does that, he is instantly afraid of the solitude he is in and wants to go back. Thus, when he actually removes it, he thinks that all the noise around him is actually lovely and sweet.
2. /2 Is the poet’s response to the shell’s “murmur” the one you expected? Explain why or why not.
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He explained that the “murmur'' he heard was “sad” and the “wind swept in desolate”. The poet is trying to explain to the reader the sad sound he heard from the shell. In my opinion this sad and desolate tone that I got from the poem was completely unexpected because whenever people find a shell it is very rare and the sound coming from it is very peaceful and relaxing, but when the poet listened to the shell he heard a very sad sound. 3. /2 What is the speaker’s
tone in the poem? Support your interpretation with specific evidence.
I think that his tone is very lonely. In almost every line you can hear him saying how there is no one and there is no voice or sound and how cold that feels. A few examples from the poem are : - “
And in the hush of waters was the sound
Of pebbles rolling round,
Forever rolling with a hollow sound.
“ This stanza depicts how there is no sound or voice.
“
It was a sunless strand that never bore
The footprint of a man,
Nor felt the weight
“ This stanza depicts how the earth had never felts the weight of anyone on it and how no trace of anyone walking on this earth could be found
3. /4 Cite several examples of powerful imagery in the poem. What impact do they have upon the reader? “The slow, sad murmur of the distant seas, Whipped by an icy breeze Upon a shore Wind-swept and desolate”. This quote from the poem does a good job bringing the reader in his shoes. We as
readers can easily tell that the sound he heard from the shell was
very sad and desolate. “There was no day, Nor ever came a night
Setting the stars alight”. This is a good imagery the poet uses to describe the ocean as a dark and lonely ocean.
4. /3 What does the last stanza mean?
For me, the final stanza means that when he removed the conch from his ear, he could hear all the noise and thought it was lovely
and sweet, and how much he had missed it. I think that the author went on a journey of solitude, and when he finally returned, he started to appreciate all that he had hate
Activity:
As a small group, write your own poem concerning what you ‘hear in the shell’. Begin with Stephens’ first stanza, and then continue with your own poetic lines. Stretch your boundaries: create specific images and choose diction that carries emotional connotations.
AND then I pressed the shell
Close to my ear
And listened well,
To hear the worth
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The rushing sound of waves
And the solemn earth.
(The above poem is copyrighted by David Attai and Aakarsh Jain.)