The Sea is a very long metaphor. Comment

This whole poem, is actually a very long metaphor, describing how the sea and a dog are similar. To support this connection, the poet uses onomatopoeias, or sound words, lavishly. Some of these words include "licking" and "moans." Throughout the poem, James Reeves used one assonance of "o" and one alliteration of "s." The assonance of "o" falls in line 14 -- "And howls and hollows long and loud." The use of many o's create a sound similar to echoes, which is similar to what the line is about. Also, in the last line, line 20, there is an alliteration of "s." Similar to the assonance, it reflects what the line is about. In this line, the sea-dog is sleeping. So, James Reeves used "s" abundantly to reflect the constancy when the dog is sleeping. Aside from the onomatopoeias and onomatopoeias, there is also a repetition of "bones" in line seven. This repetition reflects the constancy of the sound when the dog is gnawing on the juicy bone.