Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education

University
Course Epc-3 1.4Epc-3
Subject of Presentation- The Sea
Sem IV Sesson 2022-2024
Name- Avirup Banerjee
Roll-
Registration no:
 Today’s Lesson - The Sea by
James Reeves

Short profile on the Poet

• John Morris Reeves, known as James Reeves (1 July 1909
– 1 May 1978) was a British writer principally known for
his poetry, plays and contributions to children's literature
and the literature of collected traditional songs. His
published books include poetry, stories and anthologies
for both adults and children. He was also well known as a
literary critic and a broadcaster.
• Born - 1 July 1909 at
Wealdstone, London
Borough of Harrow, England
• Died - 1 May 1978 (aged
68) at Lewes, Sussex,[1]
England
• Occupation- Writer
• Language- British English
• Period- 1936–1978
• Genre- Poetry, plays,
children's literature,
anthologies
• Parents- Ethel Blench
and Albert Reeves
 The The sea is a hungry dog,
Giant and grey.
poem- He rolls on the beach all day.
With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws
Hour upon hour he gnaws
The rumbling, tumbling stones,
And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones!’
The giant sea-dog moans,
Licking his greasy paws.
The poem begins with the persona
comparing the sea to a dog, one that is
hungry. This can be seen throughout the
entirety of the poem.

Here, the persona describes the colour of

the sea to the colour of that particular
dog- grey.

The word ‘big’ here is used to reveal the

vastness of the sea, how dangerous it
tends to be. The crashing of the waves is
compared to how a dog gnashes its jaws,
menacingly so. The sound emitted by the
sea, lastly, is compared to a dog moaning.
And when the night wind
roars
And the moon rocks in the
stormy cloud,
He bounds to his feet and
snuffs and sniffs,
Shaking his wet sides over
the cliffs,
And howls and hollos long
and loud.
• The comparison continues in this
stanza. During stormy nights, the sea
is compared to a dog that shakes off
its wetness to show how it too
crashes over the cliffs sloppily,
making it wet in the process. Again,
the howling of the sea is compared to
the howling of a dog.
But on quiet days in May or June,
When even the grasses on the dune
Play no more their reedy tune,
With his head between his paws
He lies on the sandy shores,
So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely
snores.
• The poem shifts from storms to
pleasant weather in the stanza.
The month of May and June are
referenced to signify calm
weather, when even the grass is
quiet. Here, the sea is like a
content dog, silently laying its
head between his paws. No
longer is the sea a hungry dog,
rather one that is almost
blissfully lazy and quiet.
 Theme:
•The theme of this poem
again is the sea. The poet
delves deep into
describing the sea, its
characteristics being
compared to that of a
dog.
Structure:
• This is a short, lyric poem. It is divided into three
stanzas of varying length. Its rhyme scheme too
varies. The first stanza has the rhyme scheme of a
bb cc ddd c. The second stanza has f ghhg while the
third has iii c jj.
•This is a poem that is unique in nature for it
compares the sea with a dog, a seemingly
unrelated term. It thus details on the various
moods of the sea, how it can both be raging
and calm at different times just like a dog
would, making way for an interesting
perception.
 Exercise (i) The sea is compared to a
Activity 1 (a) lazy cat
(b) active man
Tick the correct (c) hungry dog
alternative:
(ii) The sea rolls on the beach
(a) all day
(b) all evening
(c) only at night
iii) The sea, seen as a dog, has
(a) greasy paws
(b) sharp paws
(c) small paws.

(iv) The sea remains quiet in the

(a) beginning of the year
(b) middle of the year
(c) end of the year.
Activity 2
Complete the following sentences with information from the
text:
(a) The sea rolls on the beach with
his__________________________.
(b) At night when the wind roars, the sea bounds to his feet
and __________________________
(c) In May or June even the grasses on the
__________________________.
(d) On quiet days the sea, like a dog, lies on the sandy shores
__________________________.