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Sea Lullaby

Elinor Wylie

The old moon is tarnished
With smoke of the flood,
The dead leaves are varnished
With color like blood,

A treacherous smiler 5
With teeth white as milk,
A savage beguiler
In sheathings of silk,

The sea creeps to pillage,
She leaps on her prey; 10
A child of the village
Was murdered to-day.

She came up to meet him
In a smooth golden cloak,
She choked him and beat him 15
To death, for a joke.

Her bright locks were tangled,
She shouted for joy,
With one hand she strangled
A strong little boy. 20

Now in silence she lingers
Beside him all night
To wash her long fingers
In silvery light.

In Elinor Wylie's ""The Sea Lullaby,"" the sea is personified as what?
O Alost sailor
O A little boy
O Astrong man
O Atricky woman

User Anycorn
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7.6k points

1 Answer

3 votes

Final answer:

In Elinor Wylie's 'The Sea Lullaby,' the sea is personified as a tricky woman, using descriptions and actions that showcase its deceitful and dangerous nature.

Step-by-step explanation:

In Elinor Wylie's poem The Sea Lullaby, the sea is personified as a tricky woman. The poem uses various feminine descriptors and actions traditionally associated with deceit and allure, such as a 'treacherous smiler' with 'teeth white as milk' and 'in sheathings of silk', to characterize the sea. This is a stark contrast to the nurturing and calm portrayal of the sea often found in literature; instead, Wylie presents it as a capricious and dangerous force that 'leaps on her prey' and 'murdered' a child 'to death, for a joke'.

User Nickeat
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7.5k points