Tides Comments
The sea, the sea, always returning,
The blood reoxygenating,
Creators of dreams
As the pure salt of an apt phrase
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The sea, the sea always returning. - - -I like the rhythm of this line, it carries your meaning so well, plus you used it in the beginning of the poem and in its ending thus demonstrating that the sea always returns
I was trying to imitate the rhythm of the French line by Paul Valery.. La Mer, La Mer toujours retournee (forgive lack of accent!) . I'm very susceptible to great lyrical poets such as Valery, Tom Eliot and Plath and their lines constantly hum through my head. The musicality of verse is very important to me.
Gee I dunno I have always lived by the sea and couldn't imagine it not being there Thank you for making me so aare.
I'm about ten minutes' drive from the Irish Sea though in my younger days I could make it to our Sailing Club at Lytham in seven minutes. help, I'm slowing down. What's happening to me, Wes! The other day I saw a programme about British Columbia about 50 miles north of Victoria. Beautiful country. Your City looks to be in a great place surrounded by sea. You must love it. Lucky lad.
Tom I so love the sea, as everyday it brings something new always moving, changing. Lovely write.
I don't think I could live very far away from the sea. When I was younger I visited Prague and Innsbruck and thought I'd love to live in either one. But I soon realised they were far away from the sea so I abandoned any such notions. I do identify with the sea's restlessness and its ever changing moods too.
Hey, buddy. this does NOT say TIDES. it says Tides. AND the preceding comments are much too flattering to be sent to an old guy like You. they should be sent to an old guy like Me! ok, i'll read your poem now. i hope it ain't a piece of rotting beach offal! ! ! maybe just 'awful'? IF i approve, it shall grace the halls of Section A of January's showcase for PH poets. good luck! and sometimes the sea flattens houses in Florida! somewhere down South. well, not my favorite poem, though i like the repeat of line one as line the last. well ALMOST a repeat. one line has an extra comma, BUT i like it that way. it reads well in both places. ok, i won't argue with your poem's 3 admirers, below. To the showcase i am sending it. bri :)
Ah, you spotted the extra comma, Bri. My typist's gin ration has now been halved to two bottles per day. She's some type of artist, if you know what I mean! I might alter the title anyway. What about Jetsam or as you would put it, JETSAM! Thanks for the Showcase entry, old but not nearly as ancient as me friend!
Tide is seen with musing and eternity is in mind of expression. Sea speaks about hidden story of myth. Wonderful poem this is.
Thanks Kumarmani. Now that Xmas is over I can concentrate again and do some catching up on my reading. Will look at yours again soon.
This poem flows like the waves you describe. That line about misusing the myth of eternity got me. The concept is fascinating as you juxtapose the ever returning waves to the eroding shoreline. This one is well done and you place the speaker right there in it. I saw, felt, and heard those waves crashing, leaving and returning. I've been close to the beach this week. Well written. Great flow and imagery.
The first line is a direct translation of Paul Valery's line La mer, la mer, toujours retournee. I love lyrical poets such as Valery and Eliot as I feel music is a vital part of poetry and admire poets such as you who have a sensitive feel for rhythm.
The sea is seen as the creator of life and also of myth, the allusion being to Atlantis, which disappeared under a Tsunami in the Med. and was re-created as a myth, a myth that has recently become fact, very much as Plato described it. the sea is also a great sculptor.
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12/6/2025 7:33:29 AM # 1.0.0
Curious, our innate attraction to the sea, our inexorable fascination with all of its moods and temperaments. You have beautifully captured the rhythm of the sea as it shadows the rhythms of life; waves moving like breath in our lungs, like blood filling the heart between each beat. Powerful writing, good sir.
Thank you, Seamus. I see the Oceans, the continuous Nature of water, as part of our Life-blood and our consciousness. As you say, they have many moods both menacing and reassuring and it is this complexity which I find so fascinating.