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Rudyard KiplingA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“Seal Lullaby” features a seascape as the setting of its lullaby. Through the seal mother’s voice, Kipling creates a separation from human culture that exists on land. Instead of green fields that might be more familiar to a human mother, it’s “the waters that sparkled so green” (Line 2) in the daylight. The moon looks “over the combers” (Line 3), which are the peaks of the curling waves, rather than over a line of trees or mountains. The waves “rustle” (Line 4) as they meet and form “hollows” (Line 4), rather than leaves or grasses that make a similar sound. The soft place for a child’s sleepy head appears next to a tall “billow” (Line 5), a large wave, instead of a “pillow” (Line 5) that might appear in a human child’s song. Threats take the form of sharks, rather than tigers, bears, or dream monsters. Despite these differences, the maternal consolation takes the same form as in human lullabies, as the seal child sleeps in “the arms of the slow-swinging seas” (Line 8) as the baby rocked in a cradle.
The sea theme has historical, social and literary implications.
By Rudyard Kipling
If—
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Kim
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Lispeth
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Rikki Tikki Tavi
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The Conundrum of the Workshops
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The Jungle Book
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The Man Who Would Be King
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The Mark Of The Beast
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The White Man's Burden
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