”Ocean” by Abilasha Agarwal

The poem ‘Ocean’ by Abilasha Agarwal begins with the starting of day. The poem picks up by describing the nature and blend and characteristics, as if the ocean were a living soul. It goes on and elaborates the love and furry that takes place in its natural setting. Points were made about the many unpredictable volatile situations, that people near the ocean face. The poem ends with such a smooth, tidy, but momentous peacefulness, which leaves the ocean sleeping. The atmospheres characterized are captivating situations, peacefulness, calmness, and the dangerous overlaps, making us ponder on the emotions of the ocean.

We get the impression that the poem is set near a coastline, where the human eye happened to take note of all these changes, as they happened in turns. The mention on how the ocean wrath, “like a dragon sometimes hitting the shore,” suggests that the setting is around a costal area, where the ocean is rough, most of the time.

The structure of the poem is five short regular four lined verses. These verses are brief and articulate, about the changing moods of the ocean. In the beginning, the poet uses comas to make the sentences flow, and excite the reader as she describes the beauty of the ocean. However, when the ocean becomes furious, she uses full stops, and hyphens to shorten the rhythm as the sentences become abrupt, just like when we speak when we are angry. During the end, the full stops are then replaced with comas so we get the atmosphere of calmness, and sleepiness, as the ocean falls asleep. The verses are divided where a new emotion is felt by the ocean, as the excitement, tension, and quickness varies from each verse.

Mid-way through the poem, the poet describes the roughness of the ocean, to a dragon, which makes us ponder that any time; the ocean could erupt, taking lives of countless people. On the other hand, she goes on at the end and compares the ocean to a ‘baby in its sleep,’ which gives us an impression of its innocents and sweetness. The emotions change so quickly, it leaves us wondering in what kind of danger we put ourselves every time we visit a beach, because just like anyone’s feelings, the emotions of the ocean are unpredictable.

The ocean is seen as having human attributes, as personification is used to bring the ocean’s emotion alive. The poet describes the how the waves move, ‘as waves dance away.’ The choice of the word ‘dance’ also gives a musical atmosphere, which is what waves are like. This personification suggests the grace and perfect timings of the waves, just like dancers performing.

Another human attribute given to the ocean is anger. The poet describes its furry, ‘eyes erupting with anger’. The choice of the word erupting, reminds us of volcanoes, which slowly spew out lava. Just like these, we are given the suggestion that the ocean’s attack is slow but effective, like the tsunami, which hit Indonesia.

The irregular rhyming pattern of the poem is similar to the ocean, as neither of them are predictable. The poet does very well to link them together.

Abilasha Agarwal has done an awesome job to create an atmosphere, in which lots of emotion took place together, leaving the reader to ponder on the similarities between both humans and the ocean. She achieved this by giving the ocean a soul, and describing it in a way, human is described. She gives us another view of seeing things, and tries to give the message that don’t judge a book by it’s cover, however in a very cheeky way.