5. The present and the past are important themes in the poem.

Can you
identify other pairs of opposites in the poem? What do these suggest
about the poem’s concerns? (history).

 The poem starts off with a timestamp — somewhere in Scotland at the time of
9/11, which seems to have sent ripples across the world. In the face of such a
tragedy, the speaker largely focuses on little details of the surroundings of a
beach; such as kites flying, the movement of the waves, the marine life, and
observations are made about attempts at salvaging things. The poem
incorporates natural elements of air, wind and water, creating a tranquil
atmosphere. The speaker attempts to contrast the Nature (delicate, and
tranquill place) with the Strong September event (destructive and
unpeaceful event).

 ‘muffled dread’ — the feeling of millions of people across the world who recognised
that old certainties and security had been obliterated. This momentous event is
contrasted with the sweetness of playing with a child on a beach, collecting shells
and evidence of sea-life. These are contrasting opposites; innocence and the
natural world on the one hand and violence on the other.

 Note that ‘gravity’ and ‘light’ are opposites, and humans occupy the space
between (In stanza 3). Gravity illustrating a dark and swallowing everything
whereas light shows bright and gives life.

 The things that are concrete and certain occupy us to such an extent that we don’t
recognise other forces — ‘the drift and tug’ — that shape our existence. These
aren’t necessarily huge global events but the ‘quiet, local forms of history’. Drift
meaning to move slowly and tuf referring to a forceful pull. Drift is interpreted as
a an opposite of Tug. Both of these juxtapose to display the ups and downs of
events that took place.
 Note the repeated reference to sorting and ‘sifting’, again an echo of the tragic
hunt for bodies in the rubble after 9/11. Again, also, the kite reappears ‘plugged
into the sky’, that is creating the link between earth and solidity on the one
hand, and the abstract of light and time on the other.

 Another idea which the poet explores is his attempts to find a connection between
these concrete and abstract elements. One way he does this is by specifying
that the poem takes place on a beach; a beach is comprised of either sand or
stones, which individually are solid, but collectively behave somewhat like a fluid,
giving the impression of being partway between the two. Additionally, beaches sit
between the land (which is solid) and the sea (which is fluid), providing a
kind of bridge between them (an image which is echoed later, when the poet
describes being “on the dune slacks with a kite / plugged into the sky”). This
could suggest that the poet is trying to make sense of the world by connecting
abstract ideas and concepts with the things he can see around him.