Toll of the Sea by Amy Lowell

It refers to the price that the sea takes from human life — the sailors who are lost and the sorrow of their families left behind. Toll has a dual meaning: it can refer to a fee or tax, as well as the sound of a funeral bell. Lowell cleverly employs both interpretations simultaneously.

There's no evidence that it commemorates a specific loss. Lowell discusses the sea's toll as a universal and ongoing condition instead of focusing on a single tragedy. This broad perspective is what gives it the feeling of a genuine elegy—it resonates with anyone who has lost someone to the water.

Quiet, cold, and sorrowful. Lowell doesn't shout or weep on the page — she simply observes. This restraint makes the sadness feel even more profound, reflecting how real grief often remains quiet instead of being dramatic.

Imagism prioritizes concrete images rather than abstract moralizing, and Lowell adheres to this principle in her work. The sea, the shore, the waves, the toll — these are all physical and tangible elements. She allows the images to convey the emotion instead of explicitly stating it.

Lowell opts for free verse in this piece, similar to much of her other writing. Without a rigid rhyme scheme or meter, the poem reflects its subject — the sea, which is also unruly. The rhythm flows slowly, much like the waves, enhancing the overall theme.

They are the ones left behind — wives, mothers, children, friends — who keep an eye on the sea for someone who went out and hasn't returned. Lowell acknowledges their pain alongside that of the sailors, understanding that waiting brings its own kind of suffering.

Not really, and that's intentional. The sea doesn't grieve, and Lowell doesn't pretend it does. The poem's raw portrayal of loss — how the sea continues to take, generation after generation — is grim, yet it honors grief instead of glossing over it.

Where Masefield romanticizes the sea's call in "Sea Fever," Lowell completely removes that romance. She aligns more with Matthew Arnold's "Dover Beach," which similarly employs the sea as a symbol of loss and the diminishing significance in the world.