Darkness settles on roofs and walls, But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
Answers
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Shmoop - We Speak Student
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Summary Stanza 2
SHMOOP PREMIUM
STANZA 2 SUMMARY
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Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 6-7
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The speaker continues to talk about twilight. Darkness is descending and the sea is… calling. Okay, the sea doesn't actually call like, say, this parrot does, so this is an example of personification.
The sea's calling could mean a few different things. The speaker could just be describing the sounds of the tide rising and falling, like this.
The speaker could also be speaking more figuratively, and saying something like, "listen, the ocean is calling you home."
We've got a traveler heading back to town, so there's definitely a "the bell is tolling and it's time to go home" vibe going on.