Desire
The urgency and passion of this poem, as well as its use of the imperative mode, suggest a profound longing on the part of the speaker. Many critics argue that the imagery of the waves crashing upon the shore, and the grandeur of the pines used to symbolize the ocean's power, are a metaphor for sexual release or a kind of sensual rapture and ravaging. The Oread is a nymph, presumably speaking to a lover or mythical force, and therefore H.D. may be positioning the nymph as the speaker in order to convey a universal experience of desire intrinsic to human subjectivity. Although the poem in its contained simplicity is somewhat cryptic, one could argue that words like "pointed," "splash," "hurl," "pools," and "fir" are erotic in nature. Regardless of whether the poem speaks to sexual desire specifically, the lines beckon to their object and reveal a deep yearning for contact.
Power
Multiple registers of power are at play in "Oread." As speaker, commander, and seductress, the oread holds power in a certain sense. In another sense, though, she longs to be prostrate before the power of the ocean, which she hopes will exert itself upon her and her home. The author, too, holds power in that she maintains a distance from this depiction of desire—using myth and metaphor as oblique devices of expression. One could argue that power lies also in the pine trees. The trees are referenced as metaphors for the mighty, green onslaught of the ocean's waves, but will stay in the ground, removed from this exchange. In other words, they participate only symbolically, and are granted dignity, respect, even reverence in this formulation. Lastly, the enigmatic and alluring longing for contact and connection controls and drives the poem forward. This poignant experience of longing, exhibited by the speaker, holds a universal power over the human subject in its ability to affect one's behavior, language, and heart.
Refuge
Although perhaps not an overt presence in the poem, the theme of refuge or shelter emerges when one looks carefully at diction and structure. The speaker's request to be covered by the sea, as well as the way the poem displaces real desire onto a mythical subject (the oread), and a metaphorical object (the pine tree), speaks to a profound longing to be heard and protected. Perhaps the yearning to be overtaken stems from the desire to be distracted or overwhelmed enough to be protected from one's own subjectivity, one's own self. Maybe the speaker seeks refuge from thoughts of the past or future, or feels too individual and wants to connect physically with an "other." The passion and potential violence of such an overtaking by ocean waves would certainly force the speaker to stay in the present, at least temporarily. One can surmise, as one does in psychoanalysis, that refuge and the desire for refuge, for protection from the outside world, takes many forms—both in the psyche and in the outside world.
