The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls

1 Pages 334 Words

“The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls”
Romanticism supports the idea that feeling and intuition are more valuable than reason. This belief opposed all the main ideas of the thoughts that ruled the literary world for years before. Between 1800 and 1860, Romanticism’s concepts were well shown through the works of authors and poets such as Hawthorne, Poe, and Longfellow.
“The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls” by Longfellow is a worthy model of Romanticism through its emphasis on nature. Because the poem set on a beach, Longfellow describes the setting as “...sea-sands damp and brown...” and “...the little waves, with their soft, white hands.” The repetition of the tide is also an important part of his description. With the contemplation of nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development, being one of the Romanticists’ beliefs, Longfellow’s traveler leaves Earth and seeks a new life.
In “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls,” Longfellow places faith in inner experience and the power of imagination. When Longfellow describes how the setting of the beach causes him to feel he is describing his inner experiences. He also describes each detail of the traveler’s surroundings. While focusing on the feelings and thoughts he has takes in from the restless beach, Longfellow describes what he feels while in this setting.
Lastly, this poem reflects on its romantic beliefs when it shows Longfellow’s quest for some higher truth in the natural world. Longfellow uses the repetitiveness of the tide rising and falling again to show the way life comes and goes but will always be moving. By saying “The day returns, but nevermore returns the traveler to the shore,” Longfellow alludes to his belief that all life does not end after death. He also describes the beach’s tides as inescapable, just as some people feel towards death.
In conclusion, the poem, “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls,” deals with Rom...