Symbol Analysis
The seaside has plenty of birds ready to grab any bits and pieces of creatures left by the tide, and the graveyard in Nantucket is no exception. But the birds in Lowell's poem aren't just hanging around, squawking for no reason. Lowell gives them voice and grief using personification, and they frequently appear in the poem to help the speaker mourn.
- Line 29: The sea-gulls and terns are "tremble" at the sailor's death. Is their grief real, or just a projection of the speaker's grief?
- Line 39: Now they're exhausted from crying, blinking "heavy lids." Though, the birds might just be worn out. Being a bird ain't easy, after all.
- Lines 78-79: Well, they're awake now and back to making noise, this time, "wailing" for water. In this section, that tide has gone out, leaving the beach bare. This is yet another thing for the birds to mourn. We get more personification; it's man who is mourning the loss of sea.
- Line 102: The gulls are flying around the stumps of trees used to make ships. The birds are used here to emphasize the image of these stumps, which display the abuse of the earth by humankind.