The Romantic poet Charlotte Smith wrote "Written Near a Port on a Dark Evening" sometime around the year 1800. A Romantic sonnet, the poem describes a dark and moody scene of an ocean at night. The speaker presents this setting as lonely and "remote," with both the breaking waves and sailors' voices sounding extraordinarily far away. Even lights on the horizon can't be trusted to guide one through such darkness, the speaker says, going on to compare these misleading lights to the way that reason itself ultimately fails to address life's many uncertainties. The poem can be thought of as an extended metaphor for the idea that life is as unknowable and disorienting as the vast ocean at night, and that human rationality can only go so far when it comes to making sense of life's mysteries.
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1Huge vapours brood above the clifted shore,
2Night on the ocean settles dark and mute,
3Save where is heard the repercussive roar
4Of drowsy billows on the rugged foot
5Of rocks remote; or still more distant tone
6Of seamen in the anchored bark that tell
7The watch relieved; or one deep voice alone
8Singing the hour, and bidding "Strike the bell!"
9All is black shadow but the lucid line
10Marked by the light surf on the level sand,
11Or where afar the ship-lights faintly shine
12Like wandering fairy fires, that oft on land
13Misled the pilgrim--such the dubious ray
14That wavering reason lends in life's long darkling way.
1Huge vapours brood above the clifted shore,
2Night on the ocean settles dark and mute,
3Save where is heard the repercussive roar
4Of drowsy billows on the rugged foot
5Of rocks remote; or still more distant tone
6Of seamen in the anchored bark that tell
7The watch relieved; or one deep voice alone
8Singing the hour, and bidding "Strike the bell!"
9All is black shadow but the lucid line
10Marked by the light surf on the level sand,
11Or where afar the ship-lights faintly shine
12Like wandering fairy fires, that oft on land
13Misled the pilgrim--such the dubious ray
14That wavering reason lends in life's long darkling way.
Huge vapours brood above the clifted shore,
Night on the ocean settles dark and mute,
Save where is heard the repercussive roar
Of drowsy billows on the rugged foot
Of rocks remote;
or still more distant tone
Of seamen in the anchored bark that tell
The watch relieved; or one deep voice alone
Singing the hour, and bidding "Strike the bell!"
All is black shadow but the lucid line
Marked by the light surf on the level sand,
Or where afar the ship-lights faintly shine
Like wandering fairy fires, that oft on land
Misled the pilgrim--
such the dubious ray
That wavering reason lends in life's long darkling way.
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
A Reading of the Poem — Hear the poem read aloud.
Romanticism — For more information about Romanticism, check out Britannica's entry on the movement.
About Charlotte Smith — Learn more about Charlotte Smith in this brief overview of her life and work.
Fairy Fires — Read more about "fairy fires" and the bioluminescent reaction that creates them.
Another Ominous Poem — Charlotte Smith returned time and again to the unsettling atmosphere of the ocean at night. Consider, for example, another of her sonnets: "On Being Cautioned Against Walking on an Headland Overlooking the Sea, Because It Was Frequented by a Lunatic."