.
The Sea
The sea rolls on, unchanged. Unmarred
By earthly wars it stays unscarred.
Always as long as man exists,
The sea will froth in perfect bliss.
When our life is borne away,
And sunlit fingers point the way,
The sea will simply shrug its shoal,
For who shall stop its ebb and flow?
.
.
LTC Roy E. Peterson, US Army Military Intelligence and Russian Foreign Area Officer (Retired) has published more than 5,000 poems in 78 of his 101 books. He has been an Army Attaché in Moscow, Commander of INF Portal Monitoring in Votkinsk, first US Foreign Commercial Officer in Vladivostok, Russia and Regional Manager in the Russian Far East for IBM. He holds a BA, Hardin-Simmons University (Political Science); MA, University of Arizona (Political Science); MA, University of Southern California (Int. Relations) and MBA University of Phoenix. He taught at the University of Arizona, Western New Mexico University, University of Maryland, Travel University and the University of Phoenix.
An evocative poem, Roy, which speaks of deep truth. It is a humbling reminder that our fleeting problems and issues pale in significance with the permanence of the sea, which ebbs and flows whether we’re there or not.
Thank you, Brian. You always find the true meaning of poems and the thoughts that go into them.
This poem had me in mind of the Time Traveller from H. G. Wells’s book ‘The Time Machine’. At one point he travels into the distant future, on a shore, where the sun has expanded and human life has ended. But still the moon and the sea exert their influence.
In the news last week, it appears that the oceans have changed colour (becoming lighter in hue) due to a reduction of biomass (oxygen-producing plants) caused by a warming of the seas. This would also account too for the bleached coral reefs.
But then what do oceanographers and marine biologists know?
Thanks for a short, poignant piece, Roy.
Thank you for your kind comments, information, and thoughts!
I like the sentiment and I like the form, Roy, but not sure I can really agree with the content – however, that is not a reason for not liking a poem! I like it, but as Heraclitus observed: all things change and I don’t think the sea is an exception. We’ve had the Flood in the past, which wasn’t pretty even if it was necessary; we now have in the present the plastic waste gumming up much of the sea; and we have a future perspective from the book of Revelation in which we are told there will be no more sea. Of course what the ‘sea’ means in that context might be debatable, might be symbolic etc. But you get my drift. Still, maybe what I like about the poem is your ‘drift’: namely, there is in watching the sea something eternally spiritual that inspires us, and as long as we do see it we will remain inspired! Regards.
Excellent thoughts, James! I love your thought about getting the “drift.” You are right, like Paul, that the “sea” as oceans, are in trouble, yet they do represent a more spiritual aspect of our existence.
I have read (it may not be true) that our word “sea” is etymologically related to the word “soul” — the supposed connection being that like the sea, the soul is a constantly moving and unpredictable reality that is unfathomable.
I am somewhat frightened by the sea, and am never comfortable on boats or ships. At best I enjoy sitting on the beach, wading in the surf, and watching the endless ebb and flow of the waves. The thought of massive tsunamis petrifies me, and I cannot watch Hawaiian surfers riding those waves that are two stories high.
Wonderful thoughts about the sea and soul relationship. I do not like boats either. I have been on two of them and both had extensive problems. The first was on a lake in Abilene, Texas. The father of my college roommate got a boat in exchange for property and had never learned about boats. He ran out of gas in the middle of the lake, got a refill from a passing motorboat driver, headed for shore and as we hit the beach he asked us how to stop it! We tumbled on the beach. The second one was going from Vladivostok a short distance to Russkiy Island. As the Foreign Commercial Officer in the Russian Far East, one of the firms I was supporting in international trade wanted me to go on a picnic outing with the potential trade partner and his staff.The boat with a drunk captain hit a promontory on the way and we almost capsized. We had to rock the boat from inside, listing 1/3rd on its side, to get it off the rock.
Unchanged, perhaps, but with so much variety in its constant nature! Color, temperature, motion, storms and doldrums in flux on the surface, as is the life within it and the geothermal violence beneath. I love “shrug its shoals,” to mention another feature that is constantly changing at different rates. An untrustworthy sandbar can disappear in an hour, as I have found with my feet. Did you write a short poem, Roy, because that’s all it takes to set readers’ imaginations swimming or sailing?
Please have “born” in line 5 changed to “borne.”
You are right as always about changing born to borne! I will do that. Thank you for catching that and your excellent analysis. The features in and around the sea itself are constantly changing, yet my contemplation of the surface is that it still operates the same since time immemorial.
I like the eerily beautiful “sunlit fingers” pointing the way and the open-ended shoal/flow rhyme which leaves the piece feeling unsettled, unfinished (but unmarred, unscarred). “Shoal” itself there is an unfinished lazy “shoulder,” a half-pun: evoking the formless form of the ocean.
Monika, you are so perceptive of “shoal.” Indeed it was intended as a pun, or as you put it a “half pun.” Thank you for your thoughts.
“The sea will froth in perfect bliss.”
“For who shall stop its ebb and flow?”
This poem fosters rich contemplation. For me, it made me think about detachment and humility. It reminded me that anxiety is entirely man-man; nature has no such struggle.
Thank you for sharing your feelings and thoughts.
Lovely poem, Roy. Finely contemplative.
Thank you for the kind comments, Paul.
Yes, the sea changes and no two waves are alike but the whole endures, unchanging in its sea-ness. Many find great comfort in meditating on the movements of the waves and you’ve done well to capture something of this in such a short piece.
Bless you for your thoughtful comments!
Roy, thank you for sharing. One reason I believe the great scenes of nature are so soothing to humanity is their stability. To sit among hundred-year-old trees, to gaze upon an ancient mountain range, to recline by the sea and listen to its incessant ebb and flow of the tide, or, my personal favorite lately, to look up into the depthless sky and see the stars and planets, reminds us of our proper place. And rather than making me feel small, it brings me great peace of mind. I echo Bilbo’s sentiment in the Hobbit:
Gandalf: “You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” “Thank goodness!” said Bilbo
Wonderful comments on contemplative moods! Thank you, Nathan for your contribution.
Beautiful poem, Roy. You’ve done a great job of describing the permanence of the sea.
Thank you, Joshua. When I have visited the ocean/sea, I have reflected on beauty and permanence, also.
Roy, this shining gem of a poem paints a wonderful picture of the sea in its rhythmic constancy. I love sea and sky watching… there’s something glorious and humbling about it… for me, it puts all in perspective and makes me realize that looking to man for the answer to your smile of a closing question is futile… King Canute springs to mind. Wonderful!
Enchanting comments, Susan. We seem to view the sea the same way, timeless and charming.
Very beautiful poem. I’m inspired by the sea
quite often too, even though I don’t live by
the sea. Thank you for the lovely inspiration.
I am the same way now, although I have lived near the sea at various times. The sea still inspires. Thank you for your thoughts.