Reading Response #1

In reading a poem by Reginald Shepard, The Geology of Water I realized that he was never talking about water, but about life and how many bad things may happen during our time on earth. It was strange to realize that this poem which was originally about water could now become anything which fit into ones life. For example the second stanza when he talks about being over his head, he is talking about being overwhelmed. It reminded me of J.R. Tolken's famous quote, "Not all those who wander are lost."

In the poem he also talks about something surviving, but that sometimes it is not worth surviving things in life. Though this is a very pessimistic outlook on life, he makes the point in some ways that many things are not worth remembering, even though it's still a part of you.

"The sea grew old here, and here it let its will to live," I'm quoting the last stanza where he describes the sea as if it were a person simply giving up on remembering and surviving after it had gone through so much. This matched the poems wording perfectly, though it was sort of tragic to see how that was the conclusion he came up with.