The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls Death Quotes

Well this is an interesting little part. The waves' soft white hands make death seem like a gentle, peaceful process, and yet the fact that the traveler's footprints are erased suggests that, once we die, all trace of our existence is completely and totally eradicated—yikes.

As if we didn't know already, the traveler is dead, never to return to the shore we saw him walking along in the first stanza. Bummer. The contrast between the traveler and the "day" is striking. Nature can regenerate itself, but once humans are dead, they're dead.