The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls: Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Enigma of Existence

One of the foremost themes in Longfellow’s poem relates to the enigma of existence. In everyday language, we commonly use the word existence without much thought. However, when pressed, the concept of existence may strike us as quite strange. Merriam-Webster defines the word as follows: “the manner of being that is common to every mode of being.” But what is this “manner of being” that’s common to all forms of being? And furthermore, where does “being” come from? Why is there something rather than nothing? Longfellow doesn’t tackle any of these philosophical questions directly in his poem. However, the mysterious traveler at the poem’s heart evokes these questions about the enigma of existence. First of all, it isn’t clear where the traveler has come from. They first appear in the poem already walking along the shore, but how did they get there? Did they arrive by boat? We have no idea; they’ve seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The traveler disappears in a similarly enigmatic way, vanishing without a trace at the poem’s end. The traveler’s passage into and out of the world of the poem echoes every person’s passage into and back out of life. In this way, the poem reflects on the mysterious nature of existence.

The Relative Insignificance of an Individual Life

In addition to the mystery of existence, the speaker also contemplates the relative insignificance of an individual human life, particularly when placed against the vast backdrop of the natural world. This theme shows up most clearly in lines 8–10, where the speaker describes how the incoming waves erase all trace of the traveler’s passage along the shore:

The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The traveler’s tracks disappear almost as quickly as they’re made. This disappearance has a symbolic significance in the poem. Like the traveler, we all make leave traces of ourselves behind, whether through our relationships with others or through the great achievements of our lives. Some people—like artists, scientists, and cultural icons—make a bigger mark on the world than the average person. But regardless of how wide or deep the impression, with enough time all traces of every life will disappear, just like footprints in the sand. Understood from this perspective, the traveler’s footprints symbolize the smallness and ephemerality of human life. By contrast, the vast natural world churns on and on: “And the tide rises, the tide falls” (lines 5, 10, and 15).

The Only Constant Is Change

The poem’s third chief theme relates to the constancy of change. Longfellow indicates this theme in the poem’s title, and in the refrain that appears at the end of each stanza: “And the tide rises, the tide falls” (lines 5, 10, and 15). This refrain references the cyclical nature of the ocean tides, which ceaselessly oscillate back and forth between rising (or “flooding”) and falling (or “ebbing”). As water levels shift, the shape of the shoreline transforms in concert, first encroaching on the land and then receding back out to sea. Then the whole process begins again, establishing a pattern that produces a sense of permanence. And yet, in this sense permanence is merely an illusion, since the underlying reality is one of constant flux. In developing this theme, Longfellow echoes the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who famously said that a person can’t step into the same river twice. The reason is that both the person and the river are constantly changing, so they are never the same. Paradoxically, then, things stay the same by never staying the same. This paradox reveals the deeper truth that the only real constant is change.