What is the message expressed in these final lines? Maggie and the Millie and molly and may.

So the basic theme of this poem is identity and how it evolves depending on experience. The beach becomes time - the sands of time - and the sea emotional depth, perhaps the unconscious, even eternity.

Explanation:

Using figurative language and poetical devices, along with a complex metrical pattern, the poet takes the reader into the lives of these four individuals via an object or 'thing' - a shell, a starfish, a crab and a stone - each one a catalyst for change.

And because the poet is e.e. . comings the form of the poem is experimental, the syntax irregular, the theme transcendental.

First published in 1958 in the book 95 Poems, this poem displays typical features that have become synonymous with the poet: lower case words, parentheses and lack of punctuation.