Why The Tide Rises The Tide Falls

"The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls"

"The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls" - have you ever heard of this poem? It was written by a famous American poet named Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was a very romantic writer and tied romance into all of his poetry. "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls," has a few characteristics of being romantic: awe of nature; importance of imagination; and strong senses, emotions, and feelings.

Awe of nature is one characteristic of romance that this poem displays. The quotation, "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls," is said using nature in connection with life. The poem uses waves from the ocean to describe that life happens and there are things in life that happen that cannot be controlled. Life comes and goes and there are

things that just need to be left alone.

Another characteristic of romance in this poem is importance of imagination. Throughout the whole poem it makes someone really use their imagination to understand what is going on. The quotation, "The little waves, with their soft, white hands, efface the footprints from the sands," is an example from the poem that makes someone use their imagination to understand what the poem is saying.

One last characteristic of romance shown is this poem is strong senses, emotion, and feeling. "The traveler hastens toward the town," is a quotation that has a strong meaning in the poem but someone might not realize it until the end. "The day returns; but nevermore returns the traveler to the shore," is a quotation at the end of the poem that gives the poem a strong sense of emotion. Now the reader, understanding the meaning of the first quotation, is overwhelmed with the sadness of the poem.

"The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls," has characteristics of being romantic: awe of nature; importance of imagination; and strong senses, emotions, and feelings. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a great romantic poet, he had many characteristics of romanticism in his works. Now that this poem has been justified in a way, do you understand how this poem uses characteristics of romanticism?