The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Oliver Wendell Holmes 1809-1894 He went to law school, but then decided to go to medical school. He came up with the word: anesthesia (without feeling) He founded the magazine The Atlantic Monthly. He is remembered by his wit, wordplay, and happy disposition.

“The Chambered Nautilus” This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, Sail the unshadowed main,-- The venturous bark that flings On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings, And coral reefs lie bare, Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair. Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell, As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell, Before thee lies revealed,-- Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed! Year after year beheld the silent toil That spread his lustrous coil; Still, as the spiral grew, He left the past year's dwelling for the new, Stole with soft step its shining archway through, Built up its idle door, Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more. Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, Child of the wandering sea, Cast from her lap, forlorn! From thy dead lips a clearer note is born Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn; While on mine ear it rings, Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:-- Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

The Chambered Nautilus Stanza One Analysis The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes We should want to be as the nautilus is throughout the expanse of our lives. The nautilus is not afraid to take chances if they could better its life. It makes the best of the beautiful yet dangerous world it lives in. Nothing gets in its way.

The Chambered Nautilus Stanza Two Analysis The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes Even when the nautilus has died, its work and beauty live on within its broken shell. The shell is what it has worked to improve every day of its life until the end.

The Chambered Nautilus Stanza Three Analysis The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes As time passed, the nautilus built on, adding to and improving its previous works. As one beautiful environment was completed, it began building a bigger and better one, leaving the old behind.

The Chambered Nautilus Stanza Four Analysis The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes For these examples we should thank the nautilus, whose life was devoted to labor, only to die in the end. Even after death, its shell delivers the message of how we should live our lives. We should keep the example in mind.

The Chambered Nautilus Stanza Five Analysis The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes We must make ourselves better people as every moment passes by. Pay close attention to the present and future, not so much to the past, only try to improve. If you work to improve, your life will be bettered until you die. Perhaps after that, your example will be remembered and taken on my someone new.

The Chambered Nautilus Aspects of Romanticism The Chambered Nautilus Oliver Wendell Holmes • The Chambered Nautilus references Greek Mythology, such as the sirens, Triton’s horn, and seamaids. • The poet sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination as shown in Line 1: “This is a ship of pearl, which, poets feign.” • The nautilus’ life is an adventure. • The poet looks to the nautilus to discover the best way to live, using a parable. • There is no mention of a god, the nautilus controls his own life.

What is a Chambered Nautilus? Chambered Nautilus is a snail-like, marine creature. It adds a chamber to its shell each year to accommodate its growing body. According to legend, a chambered nautilus can sail while floating on the water by hoisting up a membrane. The inside of the shell has a pearly look.

Voice & Speaker Voice: ~3rd Person (only use of the pronoun He) It is not clear who the speaker is, but it is highly possible that the speaker is a sailor (the poet)

Mood & Tone Mood (Atmosphere): ~Admiration Tone (of Voice): ~Reverence “This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, / Sail the unshadowed main,--” “Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, / Child of the wandering sea” “Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, / As the swift seasons roll!”

Theme Subject: the growth of the soul Theme: it is important for people, as children of Nature, to continue to build a nobler, loftier, more spiritual existence during their lives;  this growth should continue until death. 

Poem Type & Form Romantic Poem The poet looks to the nautilus (nature) to discover the best way to live, using a parable. The poem displays nature’s beauty, the nautilus shell, as a path to development. This poem has a regular meter & rhyme scheme: the couplet (2 end rhymes) Repeted Rhyme Scheme: aabbbcc

Literary Elements Alliteration: the repitition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. ~ “sweet summer” ~ “dim dreaming life was wont to dwell” Apostrophe: a direct address to someon or something that is not present. ~ “Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, / As the swift seasons roll! / Leave thy low-vaulted past! / Let each new temple, nobler than the last,”

Literary Elements Allusion: a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art ~ “Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn; / While on mine ear it rings,” ~ “In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,” Personification: giving human-like qualities to non-human like things. ~ "dreaming life," its description as a "tenant," its stealing with "soft step," its ability to stretch out in a home, and the notion that it is a "child" with "lips."

Literary Elements Extended Metaphor: A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem. ~Comparison between the growth of the nautilus that must "leave thy low-vaulted past" for a larger chamber to the growth and spiritual development of the human soul.

Shifts in Tone No true shift in tone But there is a shift from talking to the shell to talking to the soul at the last stanza.

El fin