A ship moves through a winter evening as snow falls onto the sea. The speaker watches the flakes swirl and disappear into the oily, blue-black water in the grey dusk. There is something hushed and almost eerie about the scene—snow usually muffles the world, but here it is swallowed by the ocean. The ship keeps pounding north, shuddering with heavy foam, while night closes in. Just before darkness takes hold, the crew sees another vessel, a lean, gaunt schooner, heading south through the weather. The mood is cold, lonely, and quietly tense: human effort feels small against the vast, silent snow and sea. The repeated image of the snow falling on the waters makes the whole journey feel suspended, as though the ship is moving through a half-dark dream of winter.
Snow at Sea — Summary
Silently fell The snow on the waters In the grey dusk Of the winter evening: Swirling and falling, Sucked into the oily Blue-black surface Of the sea.
We pounded on slowly; From our bows sheeted A shuddering mass of heavy foam: Night closed about us, But ere we were darkened, We saw close in A great gaunt schooner Beating to southward.
Silently fell The snow on the waters, As we pounded north In the winter evening.