Much of Finlay’s work of the mid to late 1960s was inspired by the sea, as boats and fishing had been an obsession since childhood. Like the prints in which Finlay playfully conjures images using printed words, this sculpture makes his idea three-dimensional. Etched on a sheet of glass, the words mimic the images they represent with their layout being key to the meaning of the piece. Movement is suggested by the placing of the words to represent the progress of the wave as it crashes into a rocky shore. Although Finlay produced work in a variety of media, he considered himself to be essentially a poet.