Destructive Water In 'Once By The Pacific'

One of the most recognizable ocean storm stories is that of Noah’s Ark in Genesis 6. God warns Noah of the coming flood, and because Noah walks in close fellowship with God, he follows His command to build an ark. God tells Noah, “‘Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die” (New Living Translation, Genesis 6:17). This is one of the few instances in Christianity where water is destructive; it is mostly a cleansing element, one in which sinners can become new again. Robert Frost’s poem “Once by the Pacific” gives another example of destructive water, and he uses a fearful tone combated with a protective tone to help create the theme of the impossibility to

The storm and its waves are eager to do “something to the shore that water never did to land before” (ln. 3-4). The use of the word “something” instead of a specific act leaves the reader and the speaker fearful of what the waves can do; they can do absolutely anything, from ripping apart a landscape to just barely crashing on the shore. The speaker “could not tell” what the waves are planning to do, furthering the sense of uncertainty, a large source of fear (ln. 7). The speaker does not know what to expect from this storm, so they are terrified and do not have anyone to turn to. They are left abandoned on the shoreline, simply awaiting the “dark intent” the storm promises (ln. 10). The storm’s dark intent is so intense that God even threatens to “Put out the Light” that He created at the beginning of the earth (ln. 14; New Living Translation, Genesis 1:3). Without that light, the speaker would be in complete darkness, and life would be over. The speaker’s greatest fear is not the ocean, but death and destruction. Amidst all of the destruction that the ocean threatens, the speaker becomes increasingly terrified when they realize the storm may not pass, and that it can last “an age” (ln. 11). With no perceived end and no comfort, the speaker succumbs to their fear like a wave crashing over