“Cetacean” Introduction

• Read the full text of “Cetacean”

“Cetacean” Summary

“Cetacean” Themes

• 

  The Mystery and Wonder of Nature

  Where this theme appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-19

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Cetacean”

• Lines 1-3

        ...
  ... off the Farallones.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 4-6

        ...
  ... their overall body-lengths).

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 7-9

  They blew as ...
  ... in vertical sprays.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 10-12

  Then their heads ...
  ... the vessel herself.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 13-17

        ...
  ...   for diving.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 18-19

  Then the flukes ...
  ... a shallow angle.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“Cetacean” Symbols

• 

  The Whales

  Where this symbol appears in the poem:

  • Lines 4-19

“Cetacean” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where alliteration appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Fisherman's,” “San,” “Francisco,” “Sunday”
  • Line 2: “stern, some sixty”
  • Line 4: “swimming slowly”
  • Line 5: “with white”
  • Line 7: “blew,” “soon,” “began,” “break,” “surface”
  • Line 8: “blows,” “straight,” “slim”
  • Line 9: “sprays”
  • Line 13: “diminutive dorsals”
  • Line 14: “briefly,” “blows”
  • Line 18: “visible,” “vanished”

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where anaphora appears in the poem:

  • Line 4: “ They”
  • Line 5: “they”
  • Line 7: “They”
  • Line 10: “Then”
  • Line 13: “then”
  • Line 16: “Then”
  • Line 18: “Then”

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where assonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “San Francisco”
  • Lines 2-2: “s / ixty-three feet”
  • Line 3: “ to,” “Blue”
  • Line 4: “slowly,” “rose,” “at,” “shallow”
  • Line 5: “they,” “grey,” “slate,” “tiny,” “stubby”
  • Line 7: “blew,” “soon”
  • Line 8: “upright columns”
  • Line 9: “thirty,” “vertical”
  • Line 12: “vessel herself”
  • Line 19: “slipping into,” “at,” “shallow”

• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

  • Lines 1-2: “Wharf, San Francisco, Sunday, early, /       our vessel, bow to stern, some sixty-three feet”
  • Line 5: “mottling, dorsals”

• Consonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where consonance appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, Sunday”
  • Line 2: “vessel,” “to stern, some sixty,” “feet”
  • Line 3: “Blue Whales,” “off,” “Farallones”
  • Line 4: “were swimming slowly,” “shallow angle”
  • Line 5: “slate,” “with white mottling, dorsals tiny,” “stubby”
  • Line 7: “blew,” “soon,” “began,” “break,” “surface”
  • Line 8: “blows,” “straight,” “slim,” “columns”
  • Line 9: “to thirty feet,” “vertical sprays”
  • Line 10: “heads disappeared underwater,” “lengthy, rolling”
  • Line 11: “expanse,” “backs,” “hove,” “view”
  • Line 12: “vessel herself”
  • Line 13: “diminutive dorsals”
  • Line 14: “briefly,” “blows,” “dispersed,” “heads had”
  • Line 15: “under”
  • Line 16: “backs,” “tail stocks ready”
  • Line 17: “diving”
  • Line 18: “flukes,” “visible,” “vanished”
  • Line 19: “slipping,” “deep,” “again,” “shallow angle”

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where enjambment appears in the poem:

  • Lines 8-9: “columns /       rising”
  • Lines 10-11: “rolling / expanse”
  • Lines 11-12: “longer  /       than”
  • Lines 13-14: “dorsals / showed”
  • Lines 14-15: “had /                   gone”
  • Lines 16-17: “ready /                   for”

• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where sibilance appears in the poem:

  • Line 1: “Fisherman's,” “San Francisco, Sunday”
  • Line 2: “vessel,” “stern, some sixty-three”
  • Line 4: “swimming slowly,” “shallow”
  • Line 5: “slate,” “dorsals,” “stubby”
  • Line 7: “soon,” “surface”
  • Line 8: “straight,” “slim”
  • Line 9: “sprays”
  • Line 10: “disappeared”
  • Line 11: “expanse,” “backs”
  • Line 12: “vessel herself”
  • Line 13: “dorsals”
  • Line 14: “showed,” “dispersed”
  • Line 16: “backs,” “stocks”
  • Line 18: “flukes,” “just,” “vanished”
  • Line 19: “slipping,” “shallow”

• Simile

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where simile appears in the poem:

  • Line 5: “they were grey as slate”
  • Lines 8-9: “The blows were as straight and slim as upright columns /       rising to thirty feet in vertical sprays.”

• Extended Metaphor

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

  Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

  • Lines 4-19

“Cetacean” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Fisherman's Wharf
• Bow to stern
• Farallones
• Slate
• Mottling
• Stubby
• Dorsals
• Expanse
• Hove
• Diminutive
• Dispersed
• Tail Stocks
• Flukes

• (Location in poem: Line 1: “Out of Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco”)

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Cetacean”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Cetacean” Speaker

“Cetacean” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Cetacean”

More “Cetacean” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poet's Voice — Peter Reading reads a selection of his poems. 

  • Reading's Obituary — An overview of Reading's life from The Guardian. 

  • The Blue Whale — Pictures and facts about the earth's largest creature.

  • Reading's Collected Poems — A review of Reading's third volume of collected poetry. 

  • Whales on Film — Check out some incredible footage from the BBC.