Robert Nichols
The sea darkens. Waves roar and rush.
The wind rises. The last birds haste.
One star over eve’s bitter flush
Spills on the spouting waste.
Loud and louder the darkened sea.
The wind shrills on a monotone.
Sky and deep, wrecked confusedly,
Travail and cry as one.
Long I look on the deepening sky,
The chill star, the forlorn sea breaking;
For what does my spirit cry?
For what is my heart so aching?
Is it home? but I have no home.
Is it tears? but I no more weep.
Is it love? love went by dumb.
Is it sleep? but I would not sleep.
Must I fare, then, in fear and fever
On a journey become thrice far—
Whose sun has gone down for ever,
Whose night brings no guiding star?
The wind roars, and an ashen beam
Waving up shrinks away in haste.
The waves crash. The star’s trickling gleam
Travels the warring waste.
I look up. In the windy height
The lone orb, serene and afar,
Shakes with excess of her light….
Beauty, be thou my star!
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Analysis (AI Assisted)
This poem takes us on a journey through a turbulent, emotional landscape, expressed through the imagery of the sea, the wind, and the sky. The sense of impending disaster is felt from the start as the “sea darkens” and the “waves roar and rush.” The escalating tension is echoed by the increasing volume of the wind and the retreating birds, all painting a picture of chaos and uncontrollable forces.
The use of a star, “over eve’s bitter flush,” introduces a momentary calm amidst the turmoil. However, this star is not a source of comfort; instead, it adds to the sense of isolation, as it spills its light onto the “spouting waste.” This suggests a world devoid of peace or salvation, where even beauty cannot be fully relied upon. The repeated references to the wind and the sea emphasize the overwhelming, relentless forces surrounding the speaker, with nature becoming an uncontrollable, tumultuous force rather than something to be tamed or embraced.
The speaker’s inner turmoil emerges in the questioning lines, “For what does my spirit cry? / For what is my heart so aching?” The questions are almost desperate, seeking something—home, tears, love, or sleep—but finding no resolution. The disillusionment in the speaker’s words, like “I have no home” and “love went by dumb,” signals a deep sense of loss and longing, with no clear direction for the speaker to move towards. The journey mentioned, “become thrice far,” evokes the idea of a path that becomes longer and more confusing, not just physically but emotionally as well. The “sun has gone down forever” and “night brings no guiding star,” which suggests a finality to hope and an inability to find any meaning or comfort in the world around them.
But then, at the poem’s climax, the speaker turns to a distant star, finding some form of solace in the image of “Beauty,” which becomes their new guiding light. Here, “Beauty, be thou my star!” stands as a poignant moment of defiance or acceptance, where the speaker places their trust in beauty alone, even though everything else seems lost. In this final plea, there is a suggestion that, though the world may be chaotic and uncertain, beauty—whether it be in art, nature, or the human spirit—can still offer a guiding force, even if only in its purest, most unyielding form.
The poem is both a reflection of internal struggle and an external battle against the forces of nature and fate. The imagery is heavy with the sounds and sights of a violent world, but the speaker ultimately looks to the quiet, steady light of beauty, as though it is the only thing left to cling to. It speaks to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of despair and the search for meaning in an often harsh and unpredictable world.