I see the Deep’s untrampled floor 

With green and purple seaweeds strown; 
I see the waves upon the shore, 
Like light dissolved in star-showers, thrown: 
I sit upon the sands alone,— 
The lightning of the noontide ocean 
Is flashing round me, and a tone 
Arises from its measured motion, 
How sweet! did any heart now share in my emotion. 
In the second stanza, the speaker describes other elements of the landscape that he claims to
be able to see. He speaks first of looking down at “the Deep’s untrampled floor.” This is a
reference to the bottom of the ocean on which no one steps. It is “untrampled” and covered in
“green and purple seaweeds.” He mentions again in these lines the waves touching the shore.
All of these elements come together, as those in the previous stanza did. This time they form
the light “dissolved in star-showers.” They reflect the lights of the sky and throw them out for
all to enjoy. 

In amongst the beauty of this landscape “near Naples,” the speaker “sits upon the sands
alone.” He is feeling depressed and downtrodden, so much so that the beauty of the land
cannot cheer him up. 

The following lines describe how the speaker is almost engulfed in the elements. The
lightning is “flashing round” and the sound of the waves is rising up from before him. His
current emotional state is making each part of the landscape seem grander and more
important. They come to represent the bombardment of his own life. In the last line of this
section, he feels as if there is something out there that shares in his “emotion.” 

Stanza Three 
         Alas! I have nor hope nor health, 
Nor peace within nor calm around, 
Nor that content surpassing wealth 
The sage in meditation found, 
And walked with inward glory crowned— 
Nor fame, nor power, nor love, nor leisure. 
Others I see whom these surround— 
Smiling they live, and call life pleasure; 
To me that cup has been dealt in another measure. 
In the third stanza, he states that he does not have “hope,” “health” or any kind of peace
within him. Throughout his life, he has been unable to find his way to any sort of
contentment which he thinks could be found in “meditation.” His mind is constantly moving.
It is unable to settle and allow him to find peace. On top of the lack of hope and health in his
life he has also not found “fame” or “power.” These are still out of his reach along with
“love” and “leisure.” 

These depressing lines make clear the true extent of the speaker’s dejection. It is expanded by
his realization that others around him have found happiness. There are many, he says, who
live pleasurable “Smiling” lives. He has not had this chance. For him, “that cup” has been
devoted to another type of emotion, the depression he is currently in. Nothing seems to be
working out for him in his life and he is attempting to come to terms with it in these lines. 

Stanza Four
         Yet now despair itself is mild, 
Even as the winds and waters are; 
I could lie down like a tired child, 
And weep away the life of care 
Which I have borne and yet must bear, 
Till death like sleep might steal on me, 
And I might feel in the warm air 
My cheek grow cold, and hear the sea 
Breathe o’er my dying brain its last monotony. 
In the fourth stanza, the poem takes a turn. The speaker is looking at his own situation from
the perspective of an outsider and sees that things really aren’t as bad as they could be. He
sees his own depression as being “itself…mild.” It is as passing and formless as the “winds
and waters are.” Additionally, he acknowledges the fact that he could “lie down” and weep
like a “tired child.” This is one way he could spend the rest of his life. His care might be able
to be taken away once “death like sleep” comes for him. 

After dying, the speaker thinks he might feel “in the warm air” his cheek “grow cold.” He
knows he would experience his own last breath and the roar of the sea for the final time and
move on from the world. 

Stanza Five
         Some might lament that I were cold, 
As I, when this sweet day is gone, 
Which my lost heart, too soon grown old, 
Insults with this untimely moan; 
They might lament—for I am one 
Whom men love not,—and yet regret, 
Unlike this day, which, when the sun 
Shall on its stainless glory set, 
Will linger, though enjoyed, like joy in memory yet. 
The last section brings the speaker to a more optimistic outlook. He removes himself further
from his own situation and considers how others might see him. The speaker thinks they
would “lament” his coldness and the loss of his days, as he would lament losing this beautiful
day to his own sadness. He knows they would see him and understand that he is one “Whom
men love not.” 

In the final lines he describes the current moment of his life, and the day he has lived
amongst the beautiful landscape near Naples, as something he will not regret. It will become
a memory in his mind in the same way the sun will set on the day. He is able to gain some
pleasure from the surrounding nature, after all, his every moment does not need to be
weighed down with his cares. 

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