The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Summary: The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes is a poem about the nautilus, which is a creature that lives in a shell. The creature adds on a new, larger chamber, every year for it to live in because of its growth.
Section One:
- Poets pretend the nautilus sails in magical lands that have sirens and mermaids
Section Two:
- The nautilus is broken, the shell is cracked and the insides are seen
Section Three:
- The nautilus worked hard every year to make its shell bigger because it was growing
Section Four:
- The nautilus is dead, out of the sea and by observing the shell has lead to understanding of it
Section Five:
- The narrator tells the nautilus to continue to create its shell and grow.
Other Notes:
- The nautilus is probably dead because of the line "wrecked is the ship of pearl" ; and "living gauze no more unfurl"
- The narrator says the growing process is difficult and lots of work
- The narrator has learned the creature builds the shell bigger and bigger to accommodate its growth from looking at the shell
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