I strode along my beaches like a sea, Wallace Stevens.

 I

I strode along my beaches like a sea,
The sand before me stretching firm and fair;
No inland darkness cast its shadow there
And my long step was gloriously free.
The careless wind was happy company
That hurried past and did not question where;
Yet as I moved I felt a deep despair
And wonder of the thoughts that came to me.

For to my face the deep wind brought the scent
Of flowers I could not see upon the strand;
And in the sky a silent cloud was blent
With dreams of my soul's stillness; and the sand,
That had been naught to me, now trembled far
In mystery beneath the evening star.

 II

Come, said the world, thy youth is not all play,
Upon these hills vast palaces must rise,
And over this green plain that calmly lies
In peace, a mighty city must have sway........


Reefs by the Seashore 1824 by Casper Friedrich

Socrates said:
"Well then, Phaedrus, this is how it was . I was walking on the very edge of the sea. I was following an endless shore...I was going I know not whither, overflowing with life, half intoxicated by my youth. The air deliciously rude and pure, pressing against my face and limbs, confronted me  - an impalpable hero that I must vanquish in order to advance. And this resistance, ever overcome, made of me, too, at every step an imaginary hero, victorious over the wind, and rich in energies that were ever reborn.... That is just what youth is. All things around were simple and pure: the sky, the sand, the water."