With the second stanza, firstly, in terms of imagery, the reader can clearly see the

changing of time from the twilight in the first stanza to the late at night. Moreover, the
personification of “ darkness settle on roofs and walls” emphasizes that the town is fully covered
with darkness.  In the next line, we can also see another personification is the call of the sea,
the sea calls the traveler back to the previous place, which might be less sorrowful than the
town. The poet continued to describe the sea by using a personification “ soft, white hand”, the
poet personifies the sea as a gentle white hand, hugs the traveler, then reaches out the
shoreline and effaces the footprint of the traveler. We can understand this image like the
traveler has passed away; however, the death in this stanza was felt in a way that is
truly comfortable by the way the poet uses the word “ soft white hand”, making the
death become less sorrowful. Moreover, we can also see a repetition of “ the sea”, “ the
sea”, which emphasizes death. The sea alerts the traveler the time has come, he needs
to accept the death, he needs to rest and it is the end of his adventure, therefore, he
needs to come to the place where he initially and ultimately belongs to. Regarding
mood, we can imply the mood of this stanza easily by analyzing the word choice. In this
stanza, the word “ efface” means remove mark well-inscribe on the surface, which
create the image of strong tides relentlessly eliminating everything on the sand, while
erase just simply mean making something lighter. Furthermore, the poet also uses “
settle” instead of “ locate” to describe the inherent presence of darkness, which is
stabilized and nothing can beat it. From the word choice, we can recognize the main
mood of this stanza is mournful and accepting. Finally, the thought is conveyed, the
cycle of born, death then reborn is the law of nature, and our humans need to accept it,
do not try to hide from this eternal cycle.