Life as struggle (allegory)
The poem may be an allegory of human struggle; critic Pamela Hadas writes: "This strange poem is the work of a thirty-year-old woman whose rather unnervingly cool sympathies lie with a battered and violated nature. It is a poem about injury of wholeness, resentful but resigned deprivation.” There are constant obstacles to navigate, murky waters to peer through, accidents from which to suffer, and foes to vanquish.
The Cliff (symbol)
The cliff symbolizes resistance, resilience, longevity, patience, and steadfastness. It may be a symbol of humanity, or of nature, or of the poet herself. That is the beauty of Moore's poetry: even her symbols are multifaceted and ambiguous.
Penetration, Marks, Entry (motif)
Moore uses many examples of one thing moving through another, sometimes placidly, sometimes with violence. The fish "wade," the sunlight moves into the crevices "in and out," the water "drives a wedge," there are "external / marks of abuse." This motif implies that the creatures all live together, interacting and intersecting: sometimes symbiotically, other times violently. Everything in nature is in concert with everything else; there are no arbitrary separations, hierarchies, or categories. It is an organic, amorphous world.
