- skip - Brewer’s

Wave

.

The ninth wave. A notion prevails that the waves keep increasing in regular series till the maximum arrives, and then the series begins again. No doubt when two waves coalesce they form a large one, but this does not occur at fixed intervals. The most common theory is that the tenth wave is the largest, but Tennyson says the ninth.

“And then the two


Dropt to the cove, and watchʹd the great sea fall,

Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,

Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep

And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged

Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame.”


Tennyson: The Holy Grail.

 

previous entry · index · next entry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

previous entry · index · next entry

Water-Poet
Water-sky (A)
Water Stock (To)
Water of Jealousy (The)
Water Tasting like Wine
Waters (Sanitary)
Waterloo Cup (The)
Waterworks (The)
Watling Street
Watteau
Wave
Wax-bond End (A)
Way-bit
Ways and Means
Wayfaring Tree (The)
Wayland
Wayland Smith’s Cave
Wayland Wood (near Watton, Norfolk)
Wayleaves
Wayzgoose
We

Linking here:

Tenth Wave