Full fathom Five Thy Father Lies

-William Shakespeare

Critical Summary:

This poem is from Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’, Act 1, scene 2. Ariel, the mysterious character sings this song to Ferdinand, the prince of Naples. Ferdinand wrongly thinks that his father has been drowned in the sea. The spirit Aries creates illusion in the mind of him that his father has been drowned. He gives false information about the death and goes on tormenting him.

The speaker of the poem, Ariel says that his father lies 30 feet below the surface of the sea. He consoles Ferdinand that his father has got a meaningful death because his body bones have been changed into coral and his eyes in pearls. No part of his body has decayed. Everything has undergone a sea change and has turned into strange and precious thing. The sea beauties are hourly ringing the death-bell to show respect to his father.

It is a musical poem. It has used the literary device ‘Onomatopoeia’ which refers to the word/words whose sound itself conveys the sense of the thing it describes. For example: Ding-dong, meow-mew etc. Another literary device used in the poem is ‘Alliteration’ which occurs when many words in a poetic line begin with the same sound or letter initially. For example:

Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies

How high his honour holds his haughty head?

The third device used in the poem is ‘Assonance’ that occurs when many words in a poem have the same vowel sound. For example:

Sea nymphs hourly ring his knell

Full Fathom Five Thy Father Lies

Such rhetorical devices are used to impress the reader by creating special musical effect.

Question-Answers:

1. Is death meaningful in this poem?

Ans:- Yes, death is meaningful in this poem. Here death has been considered as an important event in the sense that it is not the absolute end of life, but is only a process of transformation of one natural object into another natural object. In the poem, Ariel tries to convince Ferdinand through his song that although his father has been drowned in the sea, no part of his body has decayed. His body parts have been transformed into another natural objects that are more valuable and stranger than the mortal body. The bones of his father’s body have been changed into corals and his eyes into pearls. This poem also suggests that death is not the end of life, but it is a change from one object to another or from mortal to an immortal life. All arts created by life are immortal but the life itself is mortal. So, the poem is all about art and life where the former is permanent and the latter is temporary.

2. Find examples of Onomatopoeia, alliteration and assonance in the poem. How do they contribute to the meaning of the poem?

Ans:- See the summary of the poem and write everything from the last paragraph.

Learn these words:

Onomatopoeia: It is the imitation of natural sounds by words. For example: cackle, tin tin, buzz etc. In this poem, 'ding dong' is an example of onomatopoeia. It imitates the sound of the bell which is slow and lingering. meow-mew is another example of onomatopoeia.

Alliteration: It is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables. In 'Full fathom five thy father lies', the repetition of /f/ sound gives it a musical quality. It also reminds us of the flow of the sea.

Assonance: It is the repetition of the vowel sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables. It also enhances the singing quality.

The End