Question

What is the basic meaning of the first stanza in the lines below of the traditional poem “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls”?

Answer 1

“The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew1 calls;
Along the sea sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.”

Answer 2

a. The tide rises and falls as the birds sing in the trees near the ocean.
b. The traveler moves into the ocean as the water gets higher and higher.
c. The birds are singing the traveler to sleep on his way to a seaside town.
d. The tide rises and falls and the birds sing as the traveler goes toward town.