Summary

In the first stanza, the speaker claims there are too many waterfalls where she currently resides. The streams quickly rush towards the sea while cloud pressure causes the waterfalls to appear before the viewer's eyes. Even though the long streaks of water—which the speaker compares to "tearstains"—are not yet waterfalls, the speaker declares that they eventually will be (6). If the water and clouds continue traveling, then the mountains begin to resemble the hulls of overturned ships with slimy and barnacled bottoms.

In the second stanza, the speaker instructs the reader to think of how far the journey home is, and asks if travel was worth it. Further, the speaker questions whether it is right for travelers to observe people going about their routines in other countries. Why would people wish to see the sun on the other side of the world? Why...