Extra Credit: Edgar Allen Poe Poem

The City In the Sea
by Edgar Allen Poe

Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
In a strange city lying alone
Far down within the dim West,
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best
Have gone to their eternal rest.
There shrines and palaces and towers
(Time-eaten towers that tremble not!)
Resemble nothing that is ours.
Around, by lifting winds forgot,
Resignedly beneath the sky
The melancholy waters lie.

No rays from the holy heaven come down
On the long night-time of that town;
But light from out the lurid sea
Streams up the turrets silently-
Gleams up the pinnacles far and free-
Up domes- up spires- up kingly halls-
Up fanes- up Babylon-like walls-
Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers
Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers-
Up many and many a marvellous shrine
Whose wreathed friezes intertwine
The viol, the violet, and the vine.
Resignedly beneath the sky
The melancholy waters lie.
So blend the turrets and shadows there
That all seem pendulous in air,
While from a proud tower in the town
Death looks gigantically down.

There open fanes and gaping graves
Yawn level with the luminous waves;
But not the riches there that lie
In each idol's diamond eye-
Not the gaily-jewelled dead
Tempt the waters from their bed;
For no ripples curl, alas!
Along that wilderness of glass-
No swellings tell that winds may be
Upon some far-off happier sea-
No heavings hint that winds have been
On seas less hideously serene.

But lo, a stir is in the air!
The wave- there is a movement there!
As if the towers had thrust aside,
In slightly sinking, the dull tide-
As if their tops had feebly given
A void within the filmy Heaven.
The waves have now a redder glow-
The hours are breathing faint and low-
And when, amid no earthly moans,
Down, down that town shall settle hence,
Hell, rising from a thousand thrones,
Shall do it reverence.



Weather is elaborately described in Edgar's poem. He describes the lifting winds, beneath the sky and the melancholy waters that lie. He describes the sun's reflection on the sea and the water currents because of wind and air pressure. He also describes the sun's rays from above. Edgar's knowledge enhances the poem by creating pictures in my head of what all of the scenes look like. Also, he can describe everything and anything about weather.
This poem wouldn't be the same without the mention of weather. It wouldn't because Edgar Allen Poe's poem is called The City In the Sea, meaning that the poem is about weather in general. The poet used metaphors, imagery and setting to describe the weather in this poem. He used metaphors such as, "For no ripples curl, alas! Along that wilderness of glass-" In this metaphor he compares the sea to glass. This poem helped me learn about how weather is simple and it is all related. Also, it tought me more about winds and the sea and water.

I found this poem at:
http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/poe/cityin.html

Global Winds and Air Pressure

Recently in my purple science class we learned about air pressure and global winds. Air pressure is based on the temperature the water vapor and the elevation. The higher the altitude the lower the density and the lower the altitude the higher the density. "High" density is more dense and has fair weather. Also it is more dry than areas with a lower density. "Low" density has stormy weather and is less dense. Along with that the ground that has a less dense air has a moist or wetter ground.

Global winds are a very important part of our weather. The corolis effect is when the northern hemisphere winds cuve right and the southern winds curve left. Trade winds are about 30 degrees north and south of the equater. This is when the warm air rises from the equator cools and begins to sink. Horse latitudes are 30 degrees north and south. They are called the horse latitudes because they used to throw horses off of the boats because they were too heavy t carry along their trip. Prevaling westerlies are 40- 60 degrees. They are located in the latitude of both hemispheres. They are also very strong winds. Polar Easterlies are 50- 60 degrees latitude. The cold air is deflected by the corolis effect.

Air pressure is measured by a barometer. Two of the most common are the mercury barometer and the aneroid barometer. The aneroid barometer uses an aneroid cell to measure pressure. On the other hand, a mercury barometer is a tube with a reservoir of mercury at one end.

I got my information from:
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/circulation/air_pressure_p_1.html

Water Currents

During class about two weeks ago, my class preformed an experiment on water currents and El Nino. Our friends from Rutgers helped us do this experiment. This experiment was preformed using a tank filled with water, food coloring, salt and three dividers. First, we put a divider into the middle of the tank. This split the water into two halves. On one side we put no salt. On the other side we filled it with about 10 table spoons of salt, making it more dense than the other side of water. To discern the two sides we put a drop of blue food coloring into one side. When the divider was released the two sides acted as currents. Slowly, the more dense side (blue water) shifted under the less dense side (clear water). Density is based on how thick the substance is. You can find density by using the formula: mass /volume. To conclude the experiment, we split the water into thirds and added more salt to only one of the sides. Our class discussed that this is how the currents move inside an ocean.

I learned that there are two different formulas for predicting tides. One formula is (2) dh/dt = - Sum{aƒH sin[at + (Vo+u) - K]} = 0. Wow! That is crazy!I also learned that the most recent El Nino was on January 3rd, 1998.The picture above of the earths levels of warm water between normal and mild El Nino of 1995 and 1996. The highest water level is illustrated with red.

i got my information from
[http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980113.html]
[http://co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/predmach.html]