The poem's line breaks, at times, appear to mimic some of the imagery found in the poem. In the second stanza, the second line trails on quite lengthily before stopping at the word "ledges" as if to illustrate the sheer drop of the cliffs. Then there is the curious line break of "suck- / -ing surf" that occurs in the same stanza, which calls to mind the image of the receding tides that are ebbing and flowing far below.