Once by the Pacific

By Robert Frost

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.
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
The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,
The cliff in being backed by continent;
It looked as if a night of dark intent
Was coming, and not only a night, an age.
Someone had better be prepared for rage.
There would be more than ocean-water broken
Before God's last Put out the light was spoken.

Answer Questions A-C on the Poem above

A: How can you tell that this poem is a sonnet?

B: In lines 2-6, what forces of nature seem to be personified?

C: What backing do the shore and cliff have? Why do you think the poet
used this vocabulary?

D: What would you consider the mood of the poem to be? What images or
words throughout the poem, specifically lines 10-14, help set this mood?

Literary Response and Analysis Questions

Answer the following questions IN COMPLETE SENTENCE on a separate
sheet of lined paper.
1. Where is the speaker in “Once by the Pacific” standing as he observes the ocean? What are
the waves doing?
2. According to lines 10-11, what do the wild waves make the speaker think of?
3. Look at the last two lines of the sonnet, what dreadful thoughts is the speaker sharing with
us in this last couplet?
4. What images in lines 1-4 help you picture the waves—and even hear them?
5. What images in lines 5-6 help you picture the clouds?
6. Whose rage is described in line 12? What might cause this rage?
7. What do you think the theme or message of this sonnet is?