The rhyme scheme of the poem "Sea Fever", by English poet John Masefield, contributes to the overall sound and music of the poem in the following ways:
1. A rhyme scheme within formal stanzas
The rhyme scheme is also part of a formal stanza framework in this poem. This poem consists of three stanzas. Each stanza consists of four lines. Therefore, examining each stanza one can see that the first two lines of each stanza rhyme, and the last two lines of each stanza rhyme. Hence, the rhyme scheme of “Sea Fever” within these stanzas is AABB – stanza 1; CCDD – stanza two; and EEFF – stanza three.
These stanzas and their rhymes contribute to the overall sound and music of this poem in that the rhyming sounds move elegantly from one line to the next and from one stanza to the next – just as...
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a song often moves elegantly from one lyric line to the next and from one verse to the next, with a song’s typical rhyme scheme and verse/chorus arrangement. The stanzas of “Sea Fever” give order to the poem and the rhyme is musical within this order.
2. Proper word choice and rhymes that reflect the poems meaning
John Masefield incorporates words into this poem, rhyming and un-rhyming, that evoke the sea. In stanza one he uses the words “sky”, and also “shaking” and “breaking”. These certainly convey the mood of time spent out on the open water…white sail’s shaking, and also, grey dawn breaking.
In stanza number two it’s the use of the single word “tide”,and also the rhyming ofclouds flying, andsea-gulls crying. Again, the word choices relevant to waters, oceans, seas, marine-life, and the environment, along with the rhyming words give the poem its musical forward movement.
In stanza number three it’s the words “gypsy life” and “whetted knife” that convey the aura and image of life on ships on the sea. Again, the rhyming of these words impress upon the reader the atmosphere of the sea. The rhyme helps the reader remember the images and thoughts conveyed by John Masefield.
These contribute to theoverall sound and music of this poem because the right choice of words about the sea, while including end rhyme causes this poem to flow with regularity – like waves in the sea course along their paths with a natural regularity.
3. The repetition of phrases
Each stanza begins with these eight words:
I must go down to the seas again,
As a result, this is rhyme. The first part of line one in stanza one repeats in the first part of line one in stanza two and the first part of line one in stanza three. Therefore, we have exact words exactly rhyming to begin each stanza. This is a formal poetry construction and it gives the poem structure and rhyme and makes the poem more a constructed “literary song’ as opposed to an unregimented and un-rhyming free verse piece. Consequently, the emphasis on formal construction by the poet contributes greatly to the overall sound and music of “Sea Fever.”
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