The Chambered Nautilus

“The Chambered Nautilus” is organized into five stanzas with seven lines each. The rhyme and meter are a variant of rhyme royal, invented by English poet Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. Rhyme royal uses 10-syllable lines with ABABBCC rhyme pattern. Holmes varied this to AABBBCC, and used a mix of pentameter, trimeter, and hexameter in his verse. The trimeter lines in each stanza often deal with revelation or surprise and the shortness of them makes them stand out. The mixed length of the lines could also mimic waves of the sea. This form fits the idea of the journey of growth from expectation to surprise as the nautilus moves from a mysterious and mythic object to a “frail tenant” (Line 12), to the builder of churchlike chambers, into a messenger from God.

Holmes uses the form of the ode, which is a formal lyric poem, often ceremonious, that addresses or celebrates an idea, person, place, or thing. Greek odes were usually public poems that celebrated an athlete’s prowess or victory, whereas traditional English odes were more pensive and philosophical. They vary in stanza form,