1. Written by: Arthur Sze, 1950 Presented by: Ethan Sherle and Quinn Basi
White Sands
Written by: Arthur Sze, 1950 Presented by:
Ethan Sherle and Quinn Basi

2. Line 1
“—walking along a ridge of white sand— it’s cooler below the surface—”
This line of the poem sets up the main theme of the poem,letting the reader know where it takes place.

3. Line 2
we stop and, gazing at an expanse of dunes to the west,watch a yellow yolk of sun drop to the mountains—
The tone of this line is very calming and detailed. The writer uses words like “gazing at the expanse” and “A yellow yolk of sum drop” to describe the scene around him.

4. Line 3
“an hour earlier, we rolled down a dune, white sand flecked your eyelids”.
This line is detailed with the word flecked which means a mark or dot with a small patches of colour or particles of something.

5. Line 4
a claret cup cactus blooms, and soaptree yuccas move as a dune moves—
This line describes the different flowers he sees and the different ways he sees and describes them.

6. Line 5
In this line the waves represent the amount of year when by in the poem.
so many years later, on a coast, waves rolling to shore, wave after wave,

7. Line 6
“I see how our lives have unfolded, a sheen of wave after whitening wave—”.
In this line the person in the poem is either reflecting on his life or life itself

8. Line 7
In this line the person in the poem is running or walking in the white sand
and we are stepping barefoot,
rolling down a dune, white flecks on our lips,

9. Line 8 on our eyelids: we are lying in a warm dune as a full moon
lifts against an ocean of sky—
In this final line the person in the poem is watching the moon rising