This poem is set entirely at sea. The sea is both literal and metaphorical – it represents the course of human life, and the metaphorical journey from birth to death, but the poem was also evidently inspired by a very real sea voyage Donne took. The ocean setting is described in sensory detail, revealing to the audience how it looks and feels to live at sea. It is the background for Donne's philosophy in the poem, but also a key part of the poem's extended metaphor about calm versus stormy seas.