P.S./M.S.

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High Tide - Poem by Jean Starr Untermeyer

I edged back against the night.
The sea growled assault on the wave-bitten shore.
And the breakers,
Like young and impatient hounds,
Sprang, with rough joy on the shrinking sand.
Sprang, but were drawn back slowly,
With a long, relentless pull,
Whimpering into the dark.
Then I saw who held them captive;
And I saw how they were bound
With a broad and quivering leash of light,
Held by the moon,
As, calm and unsmiling,
She walked the deep fields of the sky.
*tide: The rise and fall of large bodies of water due to the gravitational pull of the
moon.
1. What is the setting of the poem?
2. With what natural law of our world does this poem deal?
3. What is the primary metaphor of the poem?
4. How does the poet "extend" the metaphor?
5. What specific words in the poem add to the comparison?
6. Who is the narrator of the poem?
7. What might be the theme of this poem?
8. What is the tone?