# On the Beach at Fontana explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by James Joyce.

## What happens

The speaker describes a bleak, windswept beach where he wraps a trembling boy in his arms for warmth, feeling a deep and unending ache of love amidst the surrounding fear and darkness.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and Mood

The whining wind, groaning pierstakes, and senile sea create a mood of desolation and fear.

### Love and Longing

The speaker's protective embrace and 'deep unending ache of love' highlight a profound, enduring love.

### Mortality and Sleep

The senile sea and descending darkness evoke mortality and the fragility of life.

## Character check-ins

### Narrator

The speaker who wraps the boy and feels the ache of love.

### Beloved

The trembling boy, likely a beloved child, whom the speaker comforts.

## Key lines

> Wind whines and whines the shingle, The crazy pierstakes groan; A senile sea numbers each single Slimesilvered stone.

The wind moans across the pebbles, the unstable pier stakes creak, and the aged sea counts every slime-coated stone.

_Establishes the bleak, unsettling atmosphere._

> From whining wind and colder Grey sea I wrap him warm And touch his trembling fineboned shoulder And boyish arm.

I shelter him from the cold wind and grey sea, holding him close and feeling his fragile, trembling shoulder and arm.

_Shows the speaker's protective, tender action._

> Around us fear, descending Darkness of fear above And in my heart how deep unending Ache of love!

Fear surrounds us, a darkening fear from above, while inside me there is a profound, endless ache of love.

_Contrasts external fear with internal, enduring love._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters/on-the-beach-at-fontana
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_11_se/chapters