Neither Out Far Nor In Deep

The people along the sand

All turn and look one way.
They turn their back on the land.
They look at the sea all day.

As long as it takes to pass
A ship keeps raising its hull;
The wetter ground like glass
Reflects a standing gull

The land may vary more;
But wherever the truth may be--
The water comes ashore,
And the people look at the sea.

They cannot look out far.
They cannot look in deep.
Btu when was that ever a bar
To any watch they keep? 

~ Robert Frost

I failed to grab a clear idea of its theme. From my eyes, Frost is describing an attitude, by building scenes. 

Look at these words: "A ship keeps raising its hull". A ship is ashore, waiting for next journey. Before the day to set out, it is just there, its hull going up and down with waves of the sea, through day and night. There is a wonderful quiet quality. "Wetter ground like glass, reflects a standing gull." This time a still image, but also wonderfully peaceful. It is a great technique to interchange "moving" and "still" images to avoid being "overly dynamic", which is disturbing, or "overly motionless", which is boring.  

Then come my favorite lines:

The land may vary more;

But wherever the truth may be--

The water comes ashore,

And the people look at the sea.

Let the land vary, let the truth wander wherever it will -- the water still comes ashore; the people still look out from the shore. Old scripts of Buddhism take Zen as inner peace of heart, not disturbed by the ever changing world. When there is peace, there is content. Why seek the truth? Truth is no more than a contented heart.

The Diamond Sūtra came to China 1600 years ago. It ends with four lines. If I were to translate them, they would be: "All has its way. All is an instant. All is like shadows, dews, or a lightening -- watch them as them are."