Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

LEVIATHAN, by             Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography

William Stanley Merwin's poem "Leviathan" is a powerful and evocative portrayal of the mythical sea creature, Leviathan, a symbol of the untamed, ancient forces of nature. The poem delves into the enormity, mystery, and timelessness of this creature, using vivid imagery and a tone that blends awe with a sense of foreboding. Merwin's Leviathan is both a literal and symbolic presence, embodying the primal, chaotic forces that exist beneath the surface of the world and within the depths of the human psyche.

The poem begins with a striking depiction of Leviathan as a "black sea-brute bulling through wave-wrack," immediately establishing the creature's immense size and power. The description of Leviathan as "ancient as ocean's shifting hills" situates the creature within a context of deep time, suggesting that it has existed as long as the seas themselves. This ancientness underscores Leviathan's connection to the primordial forces of the earth, forces that are both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

Merwin uses a series of dynamic and forceful verbs—"bulling," "furrowing," "spouting"—to convey the relentless, unstoppable movement of Leviathan through the ocean. The creature's passage leaves a "wake hoary behind him," a mark of its presence that lingers long after it has passed. The image of Leviathan's "shoulders spouting" and the "fist of his forehead" driving through "wastes gray-green crashing" emphasizes its physical dominance over the sea, as well as its capacity to reshape the very environment through which it moves.

As the poem progresses, Leviathan is portrayed as both a destroyer and a master of the ocean's desolate expanses. It moves "among horses unbroken / From bellowing fields, past bone-wreck of vessels," evoking scenes of chaos, destruction, and death. The ocean is depicted as a graveyard, littered with the "bone-wreck" of ships and "lost bodies bobbing," remnants of those who have dared to challenge the sea and failed. This imagery heightens the sense of danger and doom associated with Leviathan, who rules over these watery wastes with an almost indifferent power.

Despite the terror Leviathan inspires, there is also a sense of grandeur and majesty in its existence. Merwin describes the creature as "wave-marshalling" and "overmastering the dark sea-marches," highlighting its command over the ocean and its ability to find "home / And harvest" in these inhospitable regions. The Leviathan's sheer size is described as "like hills heaving," its bulk compared to "crags of drift-ice," and its movement through the water as something akin to the movement of land itself, "like land's self by night black-looming." This comparison between Leviathan and the landscape reinforces its status as a force of nature, something elemental and inseparable from the earth's physicality.

Merwin's Leviathan is also a creature of legend and myth, linked to biblical and mythical references. The poem notes that "He has held Jonah three days and nights," recalling the story of Jonah and the whale, and refers to Leviathan as "that curling serpent that in ocean is," connecting it to the ancient symbol of the sea serpent. Leviathan is described as "Sea-fright" and "the shadow under the earth," suggesting its role as both a guardian and a threat, a presence that haunts the ocean's depths and the human imagination.

Yet, the poem also offers a contrasting image of Leviathan as a "lost angel" on the "waste's unease," a being that, despite its fearsome power, can lie in stillness, observing the world with a quiet patience. This image introduces a sense of melancholy and contemplation, as Leviathan, with "one eye" watching the "dark of night sinking last" and the other on the "dayrise," seems to exist in a state of waiting, perhaps for a world that has not yet begun or for a purpose that remains unfulfilled.

The poem closes with the Leviathan in a state of expectation, "waiting for the world to begin." This final line encapsulates the sense of timelessness and anticipation that permeates the poem, suggesting that Leviathan, like the sea itself, is a creation of a still-active and unsatisfied Creator, existing in a state of perpetual readiness for whatever comes next.

"Leviathan" is a masterful exploration of the intersection between myth, nature, and the human imagination. Through its rich and evocative language, Merwin presents Leviathan not just as a creature of the deep, but as a symbol of the untamed, powerful, and mysterious forces that underlie the world and the psyche. The poem invites readers to contemplate the vastness of nature, the terror and beauty it embodies, and the way these ancient forces continue to shape our understanding of the world and ourselves.


Copyright (c) 2024 PoetryExplorer





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net