Great Regulars: "Time and tide wait for no man."

This saying is brilliantly brought to life in Longfellow's poem, with its simple yet haunting scene of the waves lapping at the shore, while a mysterious "traveller" hastens toward the town, never to return.

"The tide rises, the tide falls." This hypnotic line is repeated four times (five if you count the title), drumming it into our minds like a chant or mantra. The darkness of the "twilight" welcomes and overwhelms us, as we hear the "curlew" calling through the air with its piercing, unmistakable cry. And suddenly over the "sea-sands" we catch our first--and final--glimpse of the traveler.

from Christopher Nield: The Epoch Times: The Antidote--Classic Poetry for Modern Life: A Reading of "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls"

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