Compare and contrast the two poems, ‘Written on the Sea Shore’ and ‘The Haunted Beach’; paying attention to form and style as well as themes and content.
This paper will be comparing and contrasting the way that Smith and Robinson use themes within their poems. ‘Written on the Sea Shore’ by Charlotte Smith explores the theme of ‘death’. ‘The Haunted Beach’, written by Mary Robinson also explores the theme of death. Both of these poems seem to focus on the sea and both writers primarily wrote in the gothic fiction genre. ‘The Haunted Beach’ was written in response to another poem called ‘Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner’ by Henry Coleridge, the poem is also about a sunken ship and numerous deceased sailors. But any level of detail on the far side of Robinson’s anaphora or rhyme scheme is missing.(Bryan, 2012.) The fact that the poem was written in response to ‘Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner’ gives the reader of the poem some context to ‘The Haunted Beach.’
‘Written on the Sea Shore’ takes on the form as a sonnet, this can be identified by the typical 14 lines set into three quatrains, and the fact that it is written in iambic pentameter. This particular poem takes on the form of an Italian sonnet due to its rhyme scheme as follows: ABBACDDCEFFEGG. The abruptness of the surroundings is echoed in the ‘r’ consonance of ‘rude’, ‘fragment’, ‘rocky’, ‘fractur’d’, and ‘break’ as well as the imperfect rhyme in the first stanza which could symbolise the irregularity of the waves crashing upon the rocks in a violent manner. (Charlotte Smith, ‘Written on the Sea Shore’, Stanza 1; lines 1, 2.) The frequent use of fricatives, such as ‘fragment’ and ‘fractur’d’ creates a harsh sound to the poem, this easily coincides with the outburst of emotion that the first stanza creates. The melodiousness of the poem is due to the rhyme scheme and the intermingling of the significant usage of consonance and alliteration. There are a number of stressed syllables in both poems, this implies that this was to set the mood, perhaps the poets believed that using a number of stressed syllables would help create the feeling of the poem being stressed. ‘The Haunted Beach’ opens on a deserted and desolate beach too, Robinson’s use of language captures the psychological haunting aspects that accompany isolation and loneliness. There is a strong theme of death within both of these poems, Robinson’s poem describes a shed that conceals a murdered sailor, and Smith’s poem describes ‘the speaker’ taking their “solitary seat”(1) and reflecting upon life and the “wild gloomy scene”(7) that reflects the “mournful temper”(8) of their soul.
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There is an aspect in ‘The Haunted Beach’ set out by the significant amount of adjectives used throughout the poem- this is to set the mood. “Sunk in the yawning ocean” (Mary Robinson, ‘The Haunted Beach’, Stanza 7; line 56) is one of the examples of personification used in the poem. It could be suggested that the substantial quantity of personification used within the poem is because the human characteristics were taken away from the murdered sailor as he is lifeless, perhaps Robinson made up for the death of the sailor by giving the landscapes human characteristics. “it’s shadowy jaws displayed”(15), “jaws” suggests that the cliff can be dangerous, but “displayed” suggests that behind the “shadowy jaws” there is refuge for anyone or anything that needs it. The personification of the objects in the poem could also be to add a more supernatural effect to the poem and make it more ‘ghostly.’ Alternatively, a ‘cliff’ marks the point where land and sea meet, this could mean that the poet is trapped between life and death. There is a usage of caesura in “From whence no succour comes — or comes too late;”(12) the dash marks the caesura in the extract, this may signify life or death, both scenarios inevitably lead the “exhausted sufferer”(14) i.e. the person described in the poem, to ‘death.’
It could be suggested that the repetition of the “green billows”(9) at the end of each stanza could be mimicking the repetition of the waves advancing and receding from the shore. The end of each stanza is also different although it does include “green billows”, the last word of the stanzas rhyme with each other, this could be referring to how the waves retracting back to the sea is constant and always will be. There is also exclamation points used at the end of evert other stanza, this could signify waves- how some are big and make quite a lot of noise, and how some are small and don’t make as much noise. This creates visual and aural imagery which enhances the mood of the poem. The last stanza is the only stanza which doesn’t mention the “Green billows”, this suggests that life has come to a stop as in the previous stanzas there is repetition which implies that the monotony is repeated every day.
In ‘Written on the Sea Shore’ it could be suggested that the poet finds comfort in how the sea parallels her exploration into her own self. “But the wild gloomy scene has charms for me” (7) This could be Smith referring to her own tragic life, such as being put into a debtors prison, and leaving her husband. There are some sources that claim that Smith’s work was “semi-autobiographical” (Poetry by Heart, 2019), ‘Written on the Sea Shore’ suggests that the sombre tone throughout the poem that the semi-autobiographical statement is true, “Already shipwrecked by the storms of fate”(9) suggests that she always knew that there would be some tragedy in her life as she was destined for it. Smith is already known to have written about females struggling against male oppression and social injustice. Her political awareness and radicalness is evident within her work. Robinson’s husband also spent time in a debtors prison, while she was placed under house arrest. Robinson became an actress; it was then when she attracted the attention of The Prince of Wales. (Poetry by Heart, 2019.) There is a semi-autobiographical element within ‘The Haunted Beach’ as the body of the murdered mariner is left to rot in the shed unnoticed, there is a strong comparison to Robinson as she was left with an illness that paralysed her, it could be said that she felt forgotten about as the Prince of Wales has been said to of abandoned her before she discovered she had an illness.
There is also the theme of the supernatural within ‘The Haunted Beach’, instead of subscribing to the gothic or romantic genre conventions, Robinson combines the two styles and creates something a little bit more original. There is a lovely flow to the poem, this is due to the fact that the poem is a lyrical ballad, and this is very much like the flow of the tides.
In conclusion there are many similarities and differences between ‘Written on the Sea Shore’ and ‘The Haunted Beach’, the poets in particular have quite a lot in common with them both writing within the same era and writing within the same genres as each other. There are very similar themes within both of these poems, they both explore the themes of death and the gothic/romantic genres. Robinson ventures further by ambitiously combining the two most common genres of that time specifically, she does this by personifying landscapes and by creating a whimsical atmosphere which represents the romantic theme. She then suddenly brings in the theme of death which turns the poem around completely and twists it, so it fits into a darker category. Smith captures the gothic genre in her writing by using a strong sense of visual imagery by the frequent use of fricatives, with the harsh sounding words it creates the illusion of a harsh sounding environment and that he air is filled with death.
Both poems capture very pessimistic angles on life as death is the main theme within the poems, the repetitiveness of the theme creates the ambiance in a vicinity of loss of death without any experience of cathartic excitement that typically follows terror. The rhyme scheme within Smith’s poem helps capture the aural imagery as it resembles the crashing waves upon the beaches. Smith and Robinson had tricky relationships with their husbands, both husbands were put into a debtor’s prison and it was after this that both women began to write. Robinson in particular was the most unlucky when it came to relationships as it is believed that all the men she had been with had abandoned her, this came to influence her writing and perhaps swayed her into writing in the gothic genre.
