DESCRIBING A CALM SEA

A dreamy sea has a rhythmic pulse to it unmatched by any other part of nature. It forges its own sounds and
kindles its own symphony. The following 25 sentences are an attempt to capture the song of the sea and its
steady, throbbing heartbeat. If you find yourself visualising its glorious vastness, its dreamy surface and straining
to hear its metronomic wave music, you may understand why it’s called the fisherman’s friend.

1. The sea was buzzing with its dormant strength.

2. The waves were crawling gently to the shore.
3. The waves were creeping steadily towards us.
4. The dreamy sea was its own master.
5. The waves were gently drenching the sand.
6. The sea softly doused the beach.
7. The waves were carelessly dribbling onto the sand.
8. The ebbing tide was harmonious.
9. The sea was vaporously exhaling its mist.
10. The flowing of the tide was languorous.
11. The ocean was forging its own sea-song.
12. The gasping waves were waiting for full tide.
13. The groaning sea was riparian-blue.
14. The gurgling waves were metronomic.
15. The gushing waves were comforting.
16. The humming of the wave-song beguiled me.
17. The sea was kindling its own symphony.
18. The lapping waves entranced us.
19. The murmuring of the waves was hypnotic.
20. The waves were oozing onto the beach.
21. The palpitating pulse of the sea was steady and peaceful.
22. The plinking of the wave-music was enthralling.
23. The pulsing sea was acetylene-blue.
24. The quivering sea was hoarding its mighty power.
25. The quavering sea harnessed its majesty.
 THE BEACH: LEVEL 1: BASIC SENTENCES

1. The beach was flax-gold. COLOUR

2. We heard the snoozy sea lap gently. SOUND
3. We walked on a bow of beach. SHAPE
4. The other tourists were leather-brown. TANS
5. The neon-blue sky was threaded with silver. KNITTING TERMS FOR THE SKY
6. Children were squealing on the beach. OTHER IMAGES
7. The sun toasted our skin. SENSATION
8. The sea air smelled of chlorine. SMELL
9. The spicy sauces in the burger burned our tongues. TASTE

LEVEL 2: A BASIC PARAGRAPH

The beach we walked on was moon glow-gold. The sea looked dozy as it rested in the afternoon glow. We were
walking on a horseshoe of beach. Towers of radiant light soaked the sea with their beauty. The holiday
makers we saw all had coconut-brown faces. Clown-hatted donkeys were braying loudly as children pulled
their tails. The burning sun roasted us like nuts in an oven. The sea sky seemed threaded with silver. A warm,
tangy odour came from the sea as we walked towards a hot dog stand. The sulfurous mustard burned us nearly
as much as the sun.

LEVEL 3: CREATIVE PARAGRAPHS

It’s not often you get to see a sunrise-gold beach. That was our privilege as we gazed out at the slothful sea.
Ebbing ever so gently, it looked at peace in its jade-green gown. It felt like we were walking on a carpet of candy
floss, such was its softness. The golden sand swept around in a scythe of beach, hemmed in by towering dunes.
Far out to sea, rivers of pulsing light saturated the sea with gold. Only the occasional tourist walked past us.
There was an absence of sun-blasted bodies in this Babylon of beaches.

The horizon seemed to be stitched with a silver line. The seagulls were squawking over our heads and
squabbling for morsels from the hotel kitchen. As the sun scorched our bodies to a crisp, a funfair of barbecued
aromas drifted towards us. The saline tang of the sea mingled with the cuisine, adding salt to its appeal. We
decided to obey our rumbling stomachs and eat. Lobster on a bed of watercress was our fare that afternoon. It
tasted tender and briny and the shell food sauce had a hint of bouquet to it.

LEVEL 4: ADVANCED PARAGRAPHS

We stood on the cliff. By chance, we had found the Mecca of coves. We could see a fracture of white sand, a
gash of zephyr-haunted cliffs and a wide slash of bay. It was a watery wonderland and the beach was drenched in
a lightning-gold, dawn haze. The mighty heap of sea flowed in its astral-blue smoothness from the horizon in.
The horizon itself was a thin seam where the canopy of sky and the plane of sea hemmed each other into a line
of silver. It was as if they had been welded into an extended splinter of perfection. In the distance, streamers of
tapered light splayed out, flowing through cracks in the cloud. We decided to clamber down to the beach.

Slumbering in its blue robe, the sea greeted us and the half-moon of beach softly. The sand was floury
underfoot and a feathery, sugar-white of hue. A single yacht bobbed and lolled in the incoming tide, like a toy
in a bath. Its lights winked saucily as the wave-crests rose gently. Looking around the secluded beach, we didn’t
see any of the normal sights; tourists with Day-Glo tans, tacky stands or chattering hawkers. We realised that we
were standing in the gateway of paradise. The siren call of the sea was soothing, the wave music welcome. It was
like being wrapped in comforting cellophanes of warm sounds and soft light.

Our serenity was ruptured by the raucous cry of a gull. The rocky hollowness of the cliffs made it seem mournful
and cavern loud. It echoed at first with a mournful sound, recoiling from the cliff-rock. It rebounded and its
vibration was resonating in the spacious air. The bouncing and distortion of sound rang it out once more. Then it
foundered and finally faded away into nothingness.

Our serenity had been interrupted. We decided to make our way home. The rising sun laminated us with its
warmth and a theatre of pelagic smells wafted from the steaming seaweed. It took the edge off our hunger
and we decided not to eat.

Our footprints in the sand followed us all the way home. Heavens hideaway had been a transcendental
experience and we resolved to do it again someday.

LEVEL 5: COMPLEX WRITING: SEA MUSIC

The cliff we stood on seemed as old as Abraham. Far below, the hungry sea gnawed at its ankle.

Someone once said that paradise is where seagulls are flying beneath your feet. They were arcing and wheeling
between the witchcraft of the morning light. An occasional scream would echo from the cliffs, eerie and
resonating. The immense vista leading to the horizon was jaw dropping. The Prussian-blue vault of velvet above
seemed to solder into the liquid blanket of silver beneath. Far out to sea, a solitary cormorant, sleek wings a-
flurry, streaked out to the place where sea and sky melt into each other and was lost from sight.

The slurpy slapping of the sea was muted, a metronomic murmur. The waves were merely snoozing, sluggish
and slumbering in their liquid robes. They dribbled up to the beach of the sheltered cove, then shuddered and
drizzled their sea spray onto its surface, whisking the stones before releasing. A current of cold electricity passed
through the air. We shivered. The wind whipped up. The sea simmered.

Sloshing, swollen to its confined depths, its cavernous bowels stirred, a growling from the fathoms. Suddenly,
stone dashed sand teemed as the sea hissed, washed, polished, and lashed the pebbles before sloshing back. It
hissed, slipped, dashed the sand and released; fizzed, spit, seethed the beach and released: sizzed, slapped,
swished the stones and released.

The mesmeric beauty of its beat was heart-swelling. We realized then that the sea was its own master, kindling
its own symphony. It hadn’t finished its song yet, however. The wind, the midwife of the seas, served a different
master and whipped it into a frenzy.

The echo of a raspy rumbling from the enraged sea came to us, a tremulousness to fear. The waves were really
sloshing, slurping and slobbering with their salty lips. They pounded into the cliff of the sheltered cove, then
paused and pounced with malice onto its ankle, slamming the rock before releasing. A rumour of its malevolence
passed through our legs. We shivered. The wind died down. The sea bubbled. Trembling, throbbing to its rotten
beat, its malicious soul stirred, a warning from the ages. Suddenly, rip-tide rolls heaved as the sea foamed,
crashed, pounded and bashed the cliff-foot before sloshing back. It foamed and frothed, plunged down hard and
pummelled the hated cliffs; it lathered and lacerated, bucked waves and buckled itself; it smacked and smashed,
surging waves and expunging its awful rage.

Its hissy fit over, it swelled once more, juddered and was still