logo

20 pages 40 minutes read

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Chambered Nautilus

Oliver Wendell HolmesFiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1858

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Poem Analysis

Analysis: "The Chambered Nautilus"

In the first stanza, the speaker describes the nautilus as a “ship of pearl” (Line 1), something that may not be realistic, but is rather an illusion created by “poets” (Line 1) who imagine the cephalopod as a nef (See: Background). In the poet’s vision, this ship navigates clear, “unshadowed” (Line 2) waters. The nautilus’s tentacles are described as “purpled wings” (Line 4), which catch “the sweet summer wind” (Line 4) like the sails of a ship. The ocean waters the nautilus lives in are magical and “enchanted” (Line 5). In them, there are “Siren[s]” (Line 5) and “sea-maids […] [with] streaming hair” (Line 7). There is a slight hint of trouble in the idea that the song of the siren might lure the nautilus to the “coral reefs [that] lie bare” (Line 6) where the “cold sea-maids” (Line 7) hint that its death awaits.

That the nautilus has been successfully lured to its death is expanded on in the next stanza. The “living gauze no more unrfurl[s]” (Line 8) and the nautilus is described as “[w]recked” (Line 9). The shell has been torn apart and now “its sunless crypt [is] unsealed” (Line 14), showing the “irised ceiling” (Line 14) of the nacre and the multiple “chambered cell[s]” (Line 10).

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 20 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,450+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools

Related Titles

By Oliver Wendell Holmes