20 pages • 40 minutes read
Thom GunnFrom the Wave
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1971A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Black Jackets” by Thom Gunn (1958)
Like “From the Wave,” “Black Jackets” revels in the male form and is written in quatrains that alternate in their metrical length and their rhymes. Unlike “From the Wave,” “Black Jackets” celebrates bikers instead of surfers. Additionally, the second and fourth lines of each stanza in “Black Jackets” are longer than the first and third, while in “From the Wave” the second and fourth lines are shorter.
“Moly” by Thom Gunn (1971)
“Moly” is the title poem from Gunn’s 1971 book that also includes “From the Wave.” “Moly” is a dramatic monologue written from the perspective of one of Odysseus’s unfortunate mariners shortly after that mariner has been turned into a pig by Circe. The sailor who voices “Moly” has a man’s mind but is living in a pig’s body. The surfers in “From the Wave” are part men, part wave; the voice of “Moly” is part man, part pig. Therefore, both poems feature hybrids.
The Man with Night Sweats by Thom Gunn (1992)
This late-career book ends with a sequence of elegies Gunn wrote for his friends who died of AIDS-related illnesses. Like “From the Wave,” these elegies examine male bodies closely and carefully. Unlike “From the Wave,” the closing elegies from The Man with Night Sweats examine male bodies wracked by an epidemic.
“Duncan” by Thom Gunn (2000)
The poet Robert Duncan was an important mentor to Gunn. This poem from Gunn’s final collection Boss Cupid is a touching tribute to his mentor. “Duncan” is divided into two sections—first readers encounter a young Duncan, second an older one.
Further Literary Resources
Moly by Thom Gunn (1971)
“From the Wave” is from Gunn’s collection Moly. Elements in “From the Wave”—including centaur-like creatures, use of meter and rhyme, and the celebration of male bodies (among others)—are also present in other poems in Moly.
‘Thom Gunn: “From the Wave”’ by Joshua Weiner (2009)
In this poem guide published on the Poetry Foundation’s website, Weiner offers an in-depth analysis of Gunn’s “From the Wave.” Weiner’s analysis covers the content and form of “From the Wave” as well as the relationship between the poem and Gunn’s larger body of work.
Selected Poems by Thom Gunn (2009)
After its publication in Moly, “From the Wave” also appeared in Gunn’s 2009 Selected Poems, edited by August Kleinzahler. Reading Selected Poems, it’s possible to draw connections between “From the Wave” and Gunn’s larger body of work.
Listen to Poem
On the Poem Hunter website, the text of Gunn’s “From the Wave” is paired with a recording of a robot reading the verse.
