Previous Next

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

The Tides

The tides referenced in the title and throughout the poem symbolize the permanence of change. The phrase “permanence of change” may initially seem like a contradiction, since whatever undergoes a change is inherently impermanent. However, the ocean tides offer a powerful example of a natural cycle that, despite involving constant change, nonetheless repeats over and over, establishing an overall pattern that never ceases. Water levels are always shifting as the tide floods in and then ebbs out again. And as the water levels shift, so too does the shape of the shoreline, which first encroaches on the land and then recedes back out to sea. But then the whole process begins again, creating through the constancy of change a greater sense of permanence. This “permanence of change” can’t be experienced directly. Instead, it can only be experienced intellectually—that is, by thinking about the pattern that emerges over longer periods of time. In contrast with the constancy of the tides, the troubles of an individual human life can seem petty. However, this pettiness can also provide a source of comfort. No matter what else may be going on, the tides will forever continue to rise and fall, rise and fall.

Footsteps

The mysterious traveler first appears in the poem walking along the beach, leaving their footprints in the sand. In the second stanza, the speaker describes how the incoming tides drag across the sand and erase the footprints (lines 8–10):

     The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
     Efface the footprints in the sands,
           And the tide rises, the tide falls.

In these lines, the traveler’s footprints symbolize the smallness and ephemerality of human life in contrast to the permanence of the natural world. Like the traveler, we all make some kind of mark on the world and leave traces of ourselves behind. Those traces can take many different forms. In relationships we always make some kind of mark on other people, whether they are loved ones, enemies, or mere acquaintances. We also leave traces in the world through our major achievements in life. Although some people leave a bigger impression than others, on a long-enough time scale, all human impressions are ultimately temporary. Just like the waves in the poem “efface the footprints in the sands,” so too will the ceaseless churning of the material universe eventually erase all traces of human life.

Previous section Motifs Next section Tone

Take a Study Break