Meaning & Analysis
Periods of great abundance (high floods) are naturally followed by periods of scarcity (low ebbs), and vice versa; life moves in cycles of rise and fall.
Insights
Cyclical Nature of Fortune
The proverb expresses that both prosperity and adversity are temporary and mutually dependent—extremes of fortune will inevitably reverse, emphasizing life's constant flux.
Hope in Adversity, Caution in Success
It encourages hope during hard times (a high flood will return) and warns against complacency or arrogance during good times (a low ebb will come).
Historical Symbolism
Tidal cycles have long provided a natural metaphor for change, fate, and reversals. The image of tides—inescapable and rhythmic—was deeply familiar to early modern audiences and resonated with both rural and seafaring communities.
Cultural Resonance
This proverb appears frequently in English Renaissance literature and echoes Stoic and Christian teachings about the impermanence of all earthly conditions. It’s a motif found in proverbs worldwide, testifying to the universality of the human experience of ups and downs.
Psychological Dimensions
By naturalizing reversals of fortune, the proverb fosters emotional resilience, humility, and patience. It helps people to accept change and maintain equilibrium amidst life’s unpredictable swings.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The sharp opposition between 'high floods' and 'low ebbs' gives the saying rhetorical power and encapsulates the essence of cyclical change.
Parallelism
The mirrored phrasing reinforces the idea of balance and repetition in the pattern of events.
Metaphor
Uses the tangible reality of tides to illustrate abstract concepts of success, loss, and the recurrence of both.
Transcription
Quotations
Ded'st ebbe hath highest flowe.
The water floweth, when it is at lowest eb.
The grittest spring tyd hath the grittest eb.
The highest flood has the lowest ebbe.
A mighty ebbe followes a mighty floud.
There is no ebb so low, but hath his tide again.
At the lowest ebbe The tides still flow.
High tides have their low ebbs.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.