"Cetacean" was written by the contemporary British poet Peter Reading and published in his 2002 collection Faunal. The poem describes a boat trip to "observe" blue whales off the coast of San Francisco, and, for the most part, is relatively unsentimental and spare in its tone. At the same time, the poem conveys a sense of awe and wonder at the sight of the whales, even as the speaker attempts to quantify the experience using mathematical measurements and logical, scientific observations. The whales are gone almost as quickly as they appear, leaving behind an atmosphere of mystery surrounding the natural world. Some interpretations also view the poem as a kind of extended metaphor for the creative process itself, noting that moments of artistic inspiration are at once powerful and fleeting.

• Read the full text of “Cetacean”

• “Cetacean” Summary

• “Cetacean” Themes

  • 

    The Mystery and Wonder of Nature

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-19

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Cetacean”

  • Lines 1-3

          ...
    ... off the Farallones.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-6

          ...
    ... their overall body-lengths).

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-9

    They blew as ...
    ... in vertical sprays.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-12

    Then their heads ...
    ... the vessel herself.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-17

          ...
    ...   for diving.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 18-19

    Then the flukes ...
    ... a shallow angle.

    

    

    

    

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• “Cetacean” Symbols

  • 

    The Whales

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-19

• “Cetacean” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Alliteration

    

    

    

    

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    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Fisherman's,” “San,” “Francisco,” “Sunday”
    • Line 2: “stern, some sixty”
    • Line 4: “swimming slowly”
    • Line 5: “with white”
    • Line 7: “blew,” “soon,” “began,” “break,” “surface”
    • Line 8: “blows,” “straight,” “slim”
    • Line 9: “sprays”
    • Line 13: “diminutive dorsals”
    • Line 14: “briefly,” “blows”
    • Line 18: “visible,” “vanished”

  • Anaphora

    

    

    

    

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    Where anaphora appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “ They”
    • Line 5: “they”
    • Line 7: “They”
    • Line 10: “Then”
    • Line 13: “then”
    • Line 16: “Then”
    • Line 18: “Then”

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “San Francisco”
    • Lines 2-2: “s / ixty-three feet”
    • Line 3: “ to,” “Blue”
    • Line 4: “slowly,” “rose,” “at,” “shallow”
    • Line 5: “they,” “grey,” “slate,” “tiny,” “stubby”
    • Line 7: “blew,” “soon”
    • Line 8: “upright columns”
    • Line 9: “thirty,” “vertical”
    • Line 12: “vessel herself”
    • Line 19: “slipping into,” “at,” “shallow”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Wharf, San Francisco, Sunday, early, /       our vessel, bow to stern, some sixty-three feet”
    • Line 5: “mottling, dorsals”

  • Consonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, Sunday”
    • Line 2: “vessel,” “to stern, some sixty,” “feet”
    • Line 3: “Blue Whales,” “off,” “Farallones”
    • Line 4: “were swimming slowly,” “shallow angle”
    • Line 5: “slate,” “with white mottling, dorsals tiny,” “stubby”
    • Line 7: “blew,” “soon,” “began,” “break,” “surface”
    • Line 8: “blows,” “straight,” “slim,” “columns”
    • Line 9: “to thirty feet,” “vertical sprays”
    • Line 10: “heads disappeared underwater,” “lengthy, rolling”
    • Line 11: “expanse,” “backs,” “hove,” “view”
    • Line 12: “vessel herself”
    • Line 13: “diminutive dorsals”
    • Line 14: “briefly,” “blows,” “dispersed,” “heads had”
    • Line 15: “under”
    • Line 16: “backs,” “tail stocks ready”
    • Line 17: “diving”
    • Line 18: “flukes,” “visible,” “vanished”
    • Line 19: “slipping,” “deep,” “again,” “shallow angle”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-9: “columns /       rising”
    • Lines 10-11: “rolling / expanse”
    • Lines 11-12: “longer  /       than”
    • Lines 13-14: “dorsals / showed”
    • Lines 14-15: “had /                   gone”
    • Lines 16-17: “ready /                   for”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Fisherman's,” “San Francisco, Sunday”
    • Line 2: “vessel,” “stern, some sixty-three”
    • Line 4: “swimming slowly,” “shallow”
    • Line 5: “slate,” “dorsals,” “stubby”
    • Line 7: “soon,” “surface”
    • Line 8: “straight,” “slim”
    • Line 9: “sprays”
    • Line 10: “disappeared”
    • Line 11: “expanse,” “backs”
    • Line 12: “vessel herself”
    • Line 13: “dorsals”
    • Line 14: “showed,” “dispersed”
    • Line 16: “backs,” “stocks”
    • Line 18: “flukes,” “just,” “vanished”
    • Line 19: “slipping,” “shallow”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “they were grey as slate”
    • Lines 8-9: “The blows were as straight and slim as upright columns /       rising to thirty feet in vertical sprays.”

  • Extended Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-19

• “Cetacean” Vocabulary

  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.

  • Fisherman's Wharf
  • Bow to stern
  • Farallones
  • Slate
  • Mottling
  • Stubby
  • Dorsals
  • Expanse
  • Hove
  • Diminutive
  • Dispersed
  • Tail Stocks
  • Flukes
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Out of Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Cetacean”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Cetacean” Speaker

• “Cetacean” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Cetacean”

• More “Cetacean” Resources

  • External Resources

    • The Poet's Voice — Peter Reading reads a selection of his poems. 

    • Reading's Obituary — An overview of Reading's life from The Guardian. 

    • The Blue Whale — Pictures and facts about the earth's largest creature.

    • Reading's Collected Poems — A review of Reading's third volume of collected poetry. 

    • Whales on Film — Check out some incredible footage from the BBC.  

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