ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Ans: Proteus is a Greek mythological character who had the ability to take on various forms. The phrase “Proteus rising from the sea” in the poem refers to the sea’s rising waves. The poet, like Proteus, wishes to see sea waves of many shapes rise from the sea.

Detailed explanation-2: -Triton in later times became associated with possessing a conch shell, which he blew like a trumpet to calm or raise the waves. He was “trumpeter and bugler” to Oceanus and Poseidon.

Detailed explanation-3: -He was the sea-god or the god of rivers and oceanic bodies of the sea, capable of changing his form but only when held against his will. He and Triton, another god and messenger of Poseidon, were referred to in William Wordsworth’s poem “The World Is Too Much With Us".

Detailed explanation-4: -"Wreathed” means something like twisted, sinewy, having coils; the “wreathed horn” is a reference to Triton’s conch shell.