Dylan Thomas

We Lying by Seasand

We Lying by Seasand - meaning Summary

Watchful Seaside Longing

The poem depicts two people lying on a yellow, grave-seeming shore, observing a still, musical seaside that feels both calm and ominous. Its language alternates between gentle imagery and latent violence—winds, tides, and rock arrivals—suggesting desire for change alongside helplessness. The speakers watch and wish for the landscape to transform, but recognize their inability to control natural forces. The closing image links personal feeling to the shore’s sudden, inevitable break.

Read Complete Analyses

We lying by seasand, watching yellow And the grave sea, mock who deride Who follow the red rivers, hollow Alcove of words out of cicada shade, For in this yellow grave of sand and sea A calling for colour calls with the wind That's grave and gay as grave and sea Sleeping on either hand. The lunar silences, the silent tide Lapping the still canals, the dry tide-master Ribbed between desert and water storm, Should cure our ills of the water With a one-coloured calm; The heavenly music over the sand Sounds with the grains as they hurry Hiding the golden mountains and mansions Of the grave, gay, seaside land. Bound by a sovereign strip, we lie, Watch yellow, wish for wind to blow away The strata of the shore and drown red rock; But wishes breed not, neither Can we fend off rock arrival, Lie watching yellow until the golden weather Breaks, O my heart's blood, like a heart and hill.

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