John Longfellow's 'The Tide Falls'

Romantics believed that intuition and feeling was more important than reason. This belief was a staunch opposition to the current view of the era, that being that reason was life's center. Longfellow's poem, "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls", is a moving example of Romantic thoughts and beliefs. Within it, there are many examples of how Romantics felt we should find truth in nature.

To begin, Longfellow uses a repetitive structure in his poem to convey this overall thought that we should find truth in nature. At the end of each stanza, he states," And the tide rises, the tide falls," each time signifying that nature is enduring. The continued usage is meant to convey the belief that no matter what humans do, and no matter how hard we try to stop it, nature will continue it's cycle, unending as always. In doing so, he is also saying that we can find truth in this unwavering force identified as nature. Longfellow's usage of symbols such as footprints in the sand on a beach, these symbolizing humans and their lives, being washed away as the tide rises and it falls. The repetition of this phrase only serving to remind us of how nature will …show more content…
Romantics of this period moved their poems away from societies and into nature where in the beauty and grace of it, they could find peace and the underlying truths that were there. Longfellow's use of the ocean, as well as the surrounding peaceful nature, creates a beautiful scenery, unspoiled by man. The scenery is important because it conveys Longfellow's belief, as well as that of many Romantic authors, that nature had truth hidden within. These truths that the writers of the era allude to in their poems could only be found in "unspoiled" places, such as nature. Therefore, the use of Nature in Longfellow's poems, such as "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls", is to explain their belief that nature holds the untold and profound truths of