Meeting at Night"The gray sea and the long black land;And the yellow half-moon large and low;And the startled little waves that leapIn fiery ringlets from their sleep,As I gain the cove1 with pushing prow2,And quench its speed i’3 the slushy sand.Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;Three fields to cross till a farm appears;A rap at the pane4, the quick sharp scratchAnd blue spurt of a lighted match,And a voice less loud, thro’5 its joys and fears,Than the two hearts beating each to each..—Robert Browning1 A cove is a small inlet from the sea.2 A prow is the front end of a boat.3 i’ is short for in.4 Pane refers to a windowpane.5 Thro’ is short for through.Each stanza in this poem has six lines. Which lines rhyme within each stanza? What is the main idea of this poem? In ordinary language, describe the mental pictures you get from the first stanza. In the first stanza, why do you think the poet says that little waves look like “fiery ringlets”? What does the last line of the poem tell you?

The first line creates an image of a gray ocean. The land looks black because it’s night. The second line presents a picture of a half-moon low in the sky. It may seem large since it’s near the horizon. The third and fourth lines give the readers a mental picture of waves that are probably caused by the boat moving through the water. The last line gives a mental image of the boat beaching on wet sand.

It could be that the waves made by the passing boat reflect the moonlight.

Two hearts “beating each to each” suggests that the couple are lovers meeting after a time apart.

Explanation: ...