“The Chambered Nautilus”Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Based on the Title what do you think this poem

will be about?

• I think this poem is about…

Oliver Wendell Holmes• 1809-1894

• Went to law school, but then decided to go to medical school.

• Came up with the word: anesthesia (without feeling)

• He founded the magazine The Atlantic Monthly.

• Remembered by his wit and wordplay.

The Chambered NautilusOliver Wendell Holmes

We should want to be as the nautilus throughout the expanse of our lives.The nautilus is not afraid to take chances to better its life.It makes the best of the beautiful yet dangerous world it lives in.Nothing gets in its way.

Stanza One Analysis

The Chambered NautilusOliver Wendell Holmes

Even when the nautilus has died, its work and beauty live on within its broken shell.The shell is what it has worked to improve every day of its life until the end.

Stanza Two Analysis

The Chambered NautilusOliver Wendell Holmes

As time passed, the nautilus built on, adding to and improving its previous works.As one beautiful environment was completed, it began building a bigger and better one, leaving the old behind.

Stanza Three Analysis

The Chambered NautilusOliver Wendell Holmes

For these examples we should thank the nautilus, whose life was devoted to labor, only to die in the end.Even after death, its shell delivers the message of how we should live our lives.We should keep the example in mind.

Stanza Four Analysis

The Chambered NautilusOliver Wendell Holmes

We must make ourselves better people as every moment passes by.Pay close attention to the present and future, not so much to the past, only try to improve.If you work to improve, your life will be bettered until you die.Perhaps after that, your example will be remembered and taken on my someone new.

Stanza Five Analysis

The Chambered NautilusOliver Wendell Holmes

• “The Chambered Nautilus” references Greek mythology, such as the sirens, Triton’s horn, and sea-maids.• The poet sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination as shown in Line 1: “This is a ship of pearl, which, poets feign.”• The nautilus’ life is an adventure.

Aspects of Romanticism

• The poet looks to the nautilus to discover the best way to live, and uses a parable in the form of a lyric ODE.

What is a Chambered Nautilus?• A sea creature that

adds a chamber to its shell each year to accommodate its growing body.

• According to legend, a chambered nautilus can sail while floating on the water by hoisting up a membrane.

• The inside of the shell has a pearly sheen.

Voice & Speaker • Voice:3rd Person (only use of the pronoun, He)

• It is not clear who the speaker is, but it is possible that the speaker is a sailor.

Mood & Tone • Mood

(Atmosphere): ~Admiration

• Tone (of Voice):~Reverence

• “This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, / Sail the unshadowed main,--”

• “Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee, / Child of the wandering sea”

• “Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, / As the swift seasons roll!”

Theme• Subject: the

growth of the soul

• Theme: it is important for people, as children of Nature, to continue to build a nobler, loftier, more spiritual existence during their lives;  this growth should continue until death. 

Poem Type & Form• Romantic Poem

• The poet looks to the nautilus (nature) to discover the best way to live, and uses a parable.

• The poem displays nature’s beauty, the nautilus shell, as a path to development.

• Ode -- which is lyric poetry that expresses emotion and usually praises someone or something.

• It represents the poet’s musings

• Repeated Rhyme Scheme: aabbbcc

Literary Elements• Alliteration: the repitition of consonant

sounds at the beginning of words.~ “sweet summer”~ “dim dreaming life was wont to dwell”

• Apostrophe: a direct address to someone or something that is not present.~ “Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, / As the swift seasons roll! / Leave thy low-vaulted past! / Let each new temple, nobler than the last,”

Literary Elements• Allusion: a reference to, or

representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art ~ “Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn; / While on mine ear it rings,”~ “In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,”

• Personification: giving human-like qualities to non-human like things.~ "dreaming life," its description as a "tenant," its stealing with "soft step," its ability to stretch out in a home, and the notion that it is a "child" with "lips."

Literary Elements• Extended Metaphor: A

comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem.

~ Comparison between the growth of the nautilus that must "leave thy low-vaulted past" for a larger chamber to the growth and spiritual development of the human soul.