Lasell University

Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam and the Pastorals

E. Battaglia

Honors 305

Professor Patricia Roy

January 10, 2021

 Introduction

In Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam, by Norene Moskalski, Kate and Jake Connors race

against time to find a cure to a fast acting, deadly bacteria called Bacillus nocturne that has

infected many people on beaches across the world. Moskalski begins the novel with the pastoral,

then transitions into the anti-pastoral, and wraps up the novel with the post-pastoral.

The Pastoral

Terry Gifford’s Pastoral

Terry Gifford in his article "Pastoral, Anti-Pastoral and Post-Pastoral as Reading

Strategies" defines the characteristics of the pastoral as "idealised." He explains that the

idealization of nature highlights the picturesqueness of nature and an unchanging quality of

nature. The idea of the idealization of nature is that it portrays the idea that nothing bad ever

happens in nature and that it is perfect. He also says that the pastoral can take the form of

nostalgia, where nature in the past is more idyllic, beautiful and perfect in the past than it is in

the present, and that people had a better relationship with nature in the past than in the present.

Terry Gifford also explains that pastoral writing can portray nature as unproblematic.

Terry Gifford explains that this means that the writer displays nature as going “against the

turbulence and confusion of the present and future.” He explains that “a pastoral past often

provides an image in literature of order, stability and agreed values” (Gifford 12). Gifford also

posits that in the pastoral, the beauty of nature can be thought of as a golden age when humans

and nature were completely compatible with one another. Pastoral writing can also take the form

of a “retreat and return”, where one retreats into nature away from human civilization and returns

from nature with some new knowledge that they share with others. In connection with the retreat
and return is the category of the complex pastoral, which Gifford explains “offers lessons, often

implicit, or [is] delivered with ironic disguise” (17).

The Pastoral in Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam

In the beginning of the novel, Moskalski writes in the pastoral, describing the beauty of

nature. In the Delaware Bay Estuary Tara Anderson is in a boat to test the waters for Bacillus

nocturne. As she is paddling to the site where she will test the waters, "she listened to the sea

grass rustling in the morning breeze, the fiddler crabs clicking out their soft cadences, the brown

pelicans swooping and splashing …" (Moskalski 1). This conveys a pastoral image because it

displays the natural environment of the estuary as a peaceful serene place that is free of

problems. It also displays an idealised view of nature. Tara Anderson is comforted by the serene

natural environment that she is surrounded by.

Moskalski displays further pastoral sentiments when she explains that “as [Tara

Anderson] paddled through the calm beauty of the pond, the nocturne serenaded her with its

simple melody and dissonant undertones. Gliding carefully past a heron’s half-hidden nest, she

set her paddle across the top of her kayak. Leaning back, she dropped her hands into the water

and trailed her fingers through the sea foam surrounding her” (2). One can see the pastoral

imagery in the use of “calm beauty” in describing the pond she was paddling through, as well as

Tara Anderson’s calmness and relaxation that she felt in the estuary.

Moskalski’s description of the Venetian island of Lido di Venezia also displays

characteristics of pastoral imagery. Moskalski introduces the scene saying that “nesting plovers

and little terns stirred, awakening as night turned into day on Lido Island. The scent of pine
freshened the air, and ancestral plane and poplar trees spread their leaves to catch the morning’s

golden light. The changing currents and shifting sands of the Adriatic Sea laced the island’s

beaches with intricate patterns of sea foam and iridescent blue shells.” This description of Lido

Island is full of examples of the pastoral. The description of the freshness of the air and the

description of “the morning’s golden light” put forth a very idealised beauty of nature. The

description of the “ancestral plane and poplar trees” hint at the nostalgia of an earlier age. The

description of the sea foam that lined the island’s beaches assumes a beauty and a positive view

of the natural scene.

Moskalski also employs the pastoral when she describes the scene at Cape Henlopen

State Park, where John Hopkins University professors Linda and Paul are spending their

vacation. Each morning Linda and Paul would meet at a wooden viewing stand at the tip of Cape

Henlopen. Each morning, “Linda always preceded [Paul] on this trek. She said she liked to begin

her walk along the quiet Delaware Bay side of the Cape, enjoying the cool summer breezes just

before dawn while mentally replaying and filing away the past week’s medical cases. When she

rounded the tip of the Cape, she would climb to the top of the old lifeguard stand, mentally

refreshed and ready to welcome Paul with a relaxed smile as he jugged up the beach” (19). This

clearly portrays the pastoral because it displays the pastoral idea of retreat and return. By being

in nature and “enjoying the cool summer breezes” she clears her mind of the issues she had dealt

with during the past week. After spending time alone in nature, she returns to the human world

refreshed with a clear mind.

In Oostende, Belgium, Moskalski depicts the ocean scene with the pastoral, saying that

“the sea softly glistened with roiling sea foam, interspersed with small iridescent rimmed

charcoal shells” (38). The pastoral can be seen here through the use of the words “softly
glistened”, which implies a beautiful ocean scene, as well as the word “iridescent.” Both these

images imply a picturesque scene, and the pastoral can be seen here because it tries to capture the

natural beauty of the scene.

The Anti-Pastoral

Terry Gifford’s Anti-Pastoral

Terry Gifford defines the anti-pastoral as “emphasis[ing] the opposite features [of the

pastoral] in a gritty ‘realism’” (Gifford 18). Gifford explains that the anti-pastoral is generally

“corrective of pastoral, often explicitly,” which means that it responds to the pastoral, making it

clear that nature is not beautiful and innocent, but rather harsh. He also defines the anti-pastoral

as being “unidealised – harsh, unattractive,” meaning that nature is harmful to people and

destructive rather than just beautiful and restorative. He asserts that the anti-pastoral “emphasises

‘realism’” (19). By this he means that the anti-pastoral depicts the reality that nature is not all

nice and good, but can be destructive and harsh. He asserts that the anti-pastoral shows that

nature is “problematic – shows tensions, disorder, inequalities,” which means that nature is

unstable, not neat and orderly, and can do great harm to people. He also says that the anti-

pastoral “challenges literary constructs as false distortions,” meaning that the anti-pastoral points

out that the pastoral inaccurately represents nature and the natural world, that bad things can

happen in nature, and that nature is not always beautiful.

The Anti-Pastoral in Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam

After Moskalski depicts the beauty of each of the natural scenes where the novel takes

place, she introduces the anti-pastoral with the attack of Bacillus nocturne on the people who

were moments ago enjoying the nature surrounding them. Tara Anderson is the first to be
attacked by Bacillus nocturne in the novel. Tara Anderson, who was resting her eyes in a kayak

in the Delaware Bay Estuary, was startled by “the cry of a gull” (Moskalski 3) and jerked awake,

almost overturning the kayak. In the struggle to regain control of her kayak Tara Anderson

became infected with Bacillus nocturne. She was at first unaware that she had been infected with

the bacteria, thinking that the stinging in her eyes “resulted from the mixture of seat sunscreen

and sea foam running in her eyes” (4). However, “then the pain intensified to a fiery burn as the

colonies of Bacillus nocturne embedded in the sea foam etched the surfaces of her eyes.

Hungrily they began their search for the specific human proteins they had fed on in the polluted

water of the bay.” The anti-pastoral is seen through this description of the process of infection of

Bacillus nocturne because it is “corrective of [the] pastoral” (Gifford 19). Immediately following

a pastoral description of the estuary, Moskalski has the Bacillus nocturne attack Tara Anderson,

thus shattering the picturesque, pastoral imagery of it.

On Lido Island, when Crystal and Julie are playing in the water, the serene scenery of

Lido Island is shattered by Bacillus nocturne infecting Julie when some “peach netting that

[Crystal] had been dragging through the sea foam … caught on Julie’s wire rim glasses. Julie

gripped it tightly, trying to extricate herself from stinging sea foam dripping through the mesh

into her eyes” (Moskalski 16). Julie collapses and “blood filled her still eyes, running through

her eyelashes, down her face, and onto the beach, forming red puddles on the coarse white sand”

(17). This scene is anti-pastoral because it displays the harshness of the bacteria, as well as the

unattractiveness of the blood on the sand. The description of the sand as “coarse” gives it an

unattractive quality.

The Post-Pastoral

Terry Gifford’s Post-Pastoral

 Terry Gifford defines the post-pastoral using six questions: (1) “Can awe in the face of

nature … lead to humility in our species, reducing our hubris?”; (2) “What are the implications

of recognising that we are part of nature’s creative-destructive processes?”; (3) “If our inner

nature echoes outer nature, how can the outer help us understand the former?”; (4) “If nature is

culture, is culture nature?”; (5) “How can consciousness, through conscience help us heal our

alienation from our home?”; (6) “Is the exploitation of our planet aligned with our exploitation of

human minorities?” (Gifford 21-26). What all of these questions address is the effect that

humans have on nature and the relationship that humans have with nature. Therefore, the post-

pastoral addresses the relationship of nature and humans and the effect that humans have on

nature.

The Post-Pastoral in Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam

After depicting the dangers of nature, Moskalski wraps up the book using the post-

pastoral. The post-pastoral can be seen through the people trying to find a cure for those infected

with Bacillus nocturne and those trying to contain the bacteria and destroy it. After finding out

that Claire was the person responsible for altering the strain of Bacillus nocturne and releasing it

throughout the world, Kate asks Claire, “‘How would you halt nocturne’s replication?’”

(Moskalski 300). Claire replies saying “‘First of all, … I’d get rid of all the water pollution it has

been feeding on. Clean up the decaying organisms from the sewage wastes that our into our

waterways, and it will starve’” (306) and she explains that “‘pure unadulterated sunlight. Stops it

right in its tracks’” (307). With this information, the scientists were able to stop the spread of

Bacillus nocturne. It is also found out that Claire had reprogrammed Bacillus nocturne, changing

the nature of the bacteria. The fact that the scientists eradicated the bacteria and prevented it
from taking more lives, and the fact that Claire had reprogrammed nocturne displays the post-

pastoral theme, because it depicts a human role in changing and influencing nature.

When Gloria is attending to the people infected with Bacillus nocturne on the beach,

Moskalski adds in some background concerning Gloria’s roots. Gloria’s great-grandfather

“taught the tribe that if a person must hunt to survive, they must honor the animal by utilizing

every part of its body. That philosophy led him to discover how even mold on hides could

benefit the tribe. There is a seat at the table for every theory, Gloria thought, whether tribal

medicine or traditional medicine, or a combination of the two” (107). This is post-pastoral

because it shows that Gloria is aware of her relationship with the natural world. She uses a

mixture of natural medicine and traditional medicine to cure her patients. This shows that

humans are part of the natural world.

The post-pastoral is also apparent in Gloria Goldenseal’s ability to cure her patients who

had been infected with the bacteria. She explains to the CDC that

“‘I recognized the symptoms … from a case I had seen when I was a child, Dr.

Charleson. I remembered by great-grandfather’s belief in the healing powers of the mold

on leather tanned and stained with vegetation from the southern Delaware area.’

Gloria continued, ‘It made sense that his old medicine might still work today on

the same bacteria in the same area of the state. Given the circumstances, direct infusion

by IV seemed like the quickest way to get the antibiotic into a patient’s bloodstream’”

(341).

This use of natural vegetation to cure a bacterial infection displays the post-pastoral because it

shows the relationship between the natural world and human life.
 Conclusion

Throughout Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam, the pastoral, anti-pastoral, and post-pastoral

are used. The novel highlights the fragile relationship that humans have with nature. It depicts

the beauty of nature and the harshness of nature and how humans fit into it and interact with it.

From the pastoral beginning with descriptions of the beautiful scenery of beaches, coastal areas,

and islands, to the transition to the anti-pastoral, depicting the horrors of the infection of Bacillus

nocturne, and finally to the post-pastoral ending where a cure to Bacillus nocturne is found and a

way to contain and destroy the bacteria is found and acted out, Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam

displays a unique perspective of human’s place in nature, employing the pastoral, the anti-

pastoral, and the post-pastoral to guide the reader through the novel.
 Works Cited

Moskalski, Norene. Nocturne, Opus 1: Sea Foam. Delaware, Divinity Press, October 2012.

Gifford, Terry. “Pastoral, Anti-Pastoral and Post-Pastoral as Reading Strategies.” Scott Slovic

(ed.), Critical Insights: Nature and Environment, pp. 42-61. Ipswich, Salem Press, 2012.