I can’t remember how I arrived at today’s topic, ‘The Seven Seas.’ Maybe it had something to do with the song, ‘Sweet Dreams,’ by the Eurythmics.
Don’t you want to sail or travel The Seven Seas that pirates and sailors talked about? Of course, the most convenient way to travel today’s waterways is to take cruises unless you own a seaworthy vessel.
Ages ago, sailors and pirates navigated and were passengers on masted ships like schooners and other made-for-seafaring ships.
Traveling The Seven Seas are dreams of romantic and rhythmic songs and adventures of high treason, treachery, and death in poetry, movies, and other entertainment dramas.
James Weldon Johnson’s poem, “The Creation,” Johnson’s poetic creation about the Genesis of the world makes reference to The Seven Seas.
“So God stepped over to the edge of the world, and he spat out the seven seas; He batted His eyes, and the lightnings flashed; He clapped his hands, and the thunders rolled, and the waters above the earth came down, the cooling waters came down.”
Why seven seas, and where are they?
The number seven has mythological and spiritual significance in many cultures and religions.
What about the many songs, like ‘Sweet Dream,’ that also mention The Seven Seas? The symbolic meanings of the words are intriguing.
The prevailing thought is that ‘The Seven Seas’ is a familiar phrase or idiom. Some say it’s doubtful that the term refers to specific bodies of water; others say it does. Take a side; neither the yeas nor nays are winners of this yet-to-be-settled debate.
Who knows whether the idiom refers to actual seas as opposed to oceans or other bodies of water?
Could Rudyard Kipling be the source of the phrase’s popularity with his 1896 anthology of poetry, “The Seven Seas? Maybe ancient sailors and other earlier writers also had a significant influence.
What defines a sea?
A sea is a large saltwater lake or a specific part of an ocean—for instance, the Sea of Galilee.
How many seas are there based on this definition? There are certainly more than 7 large saltwater lakes in the world.
Many historians believe that The Seven Seas were places of adventure, pursuit, and discovery—the stuff of legends and mythologies. Some oceans were probably included in the adventurous list that may have included the Red, Mediterranean, and Black seas.
During ancient and medieval times, the sailors had much to do with the designation of The Seven Seas based on where they lived and traveled. The bodies of water depended on Chinese, Roman, Persian, or other cultures’ historical references in ancient maps and writings.
It is interesting how one body of water connects or feeds into another. The meeting of oceans and land often creates inlets of water surrounded by land or seas. Some references say there are 100 seas
Today, traveling ‘The Seven Seas’ has evolved to signify the travels of all the oceans and seas.
Below is a poetic reference:
“On a ship that’s made of paper, I would sail the seven seas: (Just to be with you.).” – Scott Spencer
Stay safe.