English Lit - Patrolling Barnegat

Patrolling Barnegat

Topic

• The poem is set on a beach on a stormy, wintry night. Someone, presumably the poet, is walking alone along the beach through driving snow, looking out to sea across the wild waves. Through the dark, snow and spray he is not quite sure what he sees - possibly a shipwreck, and a distress signal - then what seems to be a group of walkers, braving the storm. There is a real sense of danger and fear.

Language

• The poem has 6 'feet' per line, instead of the normal 5, which adds to the repetitive battering of the waves.
• The rhyme scheme reflects the constant battering on the…