An Analysis of Frost's Poem Once by the Pacific

An Analysis of Frost's Poem Once by the Pacific

Although "Once by the Pacific" is not one of Frost's most commercial poems, that does not mean that it is not one of his best. It appears quite obvious to me by one read through of the poem that it has an apocalyptic theme to it.

Frost uses the first four lines of the poem to give us a mental image of how powerful the ocean water is:

The shattered water made a misty din.

Great waves looked over others coming in,

And thought of doing something to the shore

That water never did to land before.

We imagine water crashing down upon the shore line wave upon wave, getting bigger and bigger as they continue. Frost personifies the water in line 3 by giving us the idea that the water has an actual mind and can do as it wishes. That we are at the mercy of the ocean as it stands there in its threatening tone and demands respect from us. I think that line 4 is ironic because if we look at biblical history, water has covered the entire earth before (Genesis 7:17-24). Yet Frost approaches this as if it is a new idea, perhaps because we have a hard time comprehending such an unimaginable occurrence as the Great Flood.

The next 3 lines use the image of the clouds in the sky concealing what is to come:

The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,

Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.

You could not tell and yet it looked as if .