The Haunted Beach, by Mary Robinson lives up to its ghostly name. The second stanza stood out to me in that it utilizes a lot of interesting language to paint a sublime picture of the beach. The author writes, “Above, a jutting cliff was seen Where birds hover’d, craving; And all around, the craggs were bound…And here and there, a cavern wide Its shad’wy jaws display’d…”(Lyrical Ballafds 376, ll 10-15). I thought the word ‘craggs’ was an interesting choice. The definition is, “A steep or precipitous rugged rock”(OED online). This whole stanza gives us an image of a dangerous, high and rugged cliff that truly dwarfs the reader before Nature. The word ‘jaws’ even reminds us of a daunting animal that may lash out at us at any moment. We are astonished at the awesome images invoked by Robinson’s language.
After the initial shock the author delivers, the poem takes a turn for the dark and eerie. I would have to agree with William Wordsworth in his preface when he notes, “The human mind is capable of being excited without the application of gross and violent stumulants…”(Lyrical Ballads 395). I believe Robinson violates this rule when writing about howling phantoms, deep bleeding lacerations, and murder. The gothic style employed by Robinson throughout the rest of the poem truly moves the reader to fear and awe, and paints a violent scary picture of nature in opposition to happy nightingales or beautiful landscapes.
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