Captain Cook

• The reference to future and fashion in the second line of the second stanza shows the excitement when they used to read adventures
• The repetition of the plural pronoun 'we'


  Shows the close bond that the speaker shared with her brother
• The speaker is illustrating the mourning of the loss of childhood


  Because they've grown up and become adults, and with the business of adulthood they just don't have enough time to spend together anymore
• The speaker and her brother used to imagine that they were chiefs and kings
• This illustrates the unbound childlike imagination of the speaker and her brother
• Semantic field of royalty


  • Chiefs
  • Kings
• Semantic field of happiness


  • Delight
  • Pleasant
• The adverbial phrase 'now' shifts the focus to the mundane present where the speaker and her brother are no longer having fun and imagining as they did in the past
• On an august evening, the brother brought a book about Captain Cook's voyages
• Once they learned about Captain Cook, all their other favorite heroes were nothing in comparison
• The speaker and her brother became obsessed with reading about Captain Cook's adventures
• Nautical language


  • Sailed
  • Sea
  • Ocean
  • South sea
• The sibilance in 'seemed sailors storm and strife' emphasizes the speaker and her brother's wonder and admiration for sailors
• The repeated reference to 'south seas' alludes to Cook's exploration of Australia, Hawaii, and New Zealand
• The alliteration of 'age' and 'happy' shows the innocent joy the speaker and her brother had in their childhood
• The speaker and her brother used to imagine what Captain Cook saw when he was at sea, looking up at the endless sky
• As adults, the speaker and her brother no longer have access to the garden of nature they enjoyed as children
• The violent verbs 'plowed' and 'cut down' emphasize the pain of adulthood
• Semantic field of colors describing nature


  • Silver
  • Gold
• The alliteration of 't' emphasizes the speaker's mourning the end of their childhood
• The speaker and her brother loved the dangers and mourned the fall of Captain Cook
• The anaphoric repetition of 'his' shows how much the speaker still admires Captain Cook