Shores: Theme; Time

Shores: Theme; Time

“Shores”: Theme; Time

Persistence of Time

• MacLean’s discussion of the recurring tides within the text helps to highlight the continuous and relentless progression of time. This can invoke the sensation of time’s unstoppable momentum.

Cyclical Nature of Time

• The ebb and flow of the shoreline elegantly captures the cyclical nature of time, echoing constant change and recurrence. The advancing and receding tides depict the continual cycle of life.

Time’s Impact

• Just as the sea shapes the shore, time profoundly impacts people and their lives. The poet implies that time has transformative powers, altering landscapes and human lives alike.

Juxtaposition of Temporality and Permanence

• MacLean places the changing shores against the backdrop of the seemingly everlasting sea, creating a strong juxtaposition between temporality and permanence. This might be interpreted as a reflection on human transience against the backdrop of eternal time.

Temporal Scale

• The constant shifting of the sands can also be read as a metaphor for the larger scale of geological time. MacLean draws the reader’s attention to the granular details as a way to understand the vast concept of time.

Time as a Healer

• The rhythmic ebb and flow of tides might suggest the therapeutic quality of time passing, healing wounds and helping people cope with loss, grief, or change.

Inexorable Force

• MacLean’s description of the steady march of time as an inexorable force reinforces its omnipresence and inevitability. It underlines the idea that time cannot be controlled or halted by humans.

Time and Memory

• The poet hints at the interplay between time and memory through the shifting sands. The idea that tides erase the traces on the sand can be a metaphor for the fading of memories over time.