Note the use of enjambment in this poem. Why? Use of alliteration?
Consider the viewpoint of the speaker. Does "he" represent a spectator's view? A general observer's view? Both?
Stanza one: commentary on the "young Americans"--commercialization of surfing. Time period: what ideas/value do we associate with the 60s? Read carefully for evidence. Note: author Paul Goodman's book Growing Up Absurd (1960) reflects his anti-establishment, avant-garde values. What about this poem? Is this poem a social critique in its view of sports and society?
Wetsuits are used in Santa Cruz because the water is cold. Surfboards use modern materials; the Polynesians used wooden boards.
Stanzas two and three: Reference to One World Polynesians? (You can look this up.) Bring surfing to Hawaii, where it develops as a sport? What does it suggest to compare the "young Americans" to "One World Polynesians"? Why "One World"? What is the tone of these stanzas? What attitude is revealed?
When paddling, surfers can kneel or lay flat on the board.
Why "balancing communicates/with the ocean on the Way"? Consider the good suggestions made in class.
Ninth wave: waves comes in sets. Surfers look for white caps as signs of possible waves to come.
Stanza four: How can the surfers described be "beautiful" and "ugly"? What does this last stanza suggest about the speaker's attitude about the surfers? Surfing (as a sport)?
Here's another poem about surfing. Enjoy! First published on the Atlantic Monthly website.
IN THE TUBE
by Mark Jarman
They beat the edge
Of the dawn light,
The pearly pre-glow
Right at their heels.
The three boys
Carrying the fourth
Rolled in a sheet.
They all had taken
Something the night
Before in a beach
House and this one
Drowned in his sleep.
They acted quickly,
These instinctive
Athletes who cross
The faces of tons
Of crushing water
Which refrain
From curling over
And burying them
Alive because they
Are nimble, quick,
Tuned to the wit
Of their survivors'
Bodies. They hurried
From the running car
And laid their friend
Like a Sunday paper
On his parents' doorstep,
And drove off to
The place where the sharp
New light would comb through
The wave crests and they
Would ride below them,
Dodging the onrush.