The far distant shore

From Opel: Immersion Set for Distant Shores
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Go to i. Introducion
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Go to iii. The totem
Go to iv. The far distant shore
Go to v. Driftwood
Go to vi. Dry tears
Go to vii. A circle of grey
Go to viii. To be found…
Go to ix. Information pack

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Backed by the specificity of the totem, the use of a geographical term like "miles" could suggest an attempt to locate where the shore is, but on the other hand, if the whole story is a dream "in a mist of grey" it suggests a less clear idea. The grey could be used, instead, to add distance to the image and to give the whole song just a touch of sadness, in a poetic way.

But in the heat of summer,
And at the close of day,
They dream across the valley
Wrapt in a mist of grey.

I go to them in sorrow
So calm they are, and kind:
The little hills of Charnwood
Bring comfort to my mind.

I look on them with worship,
Because, by land and sea,
Brave men have died in thousands
To keep them safe and free.

Beacon Hill, Leicestershire.jpg

The summit of Beacon Hill, from Charnwood Forest on Wikipedia

— Teresa Hooley, "The Charnwood Hills"

By the way, Charnwood is not far from Cambridge, and of course Syd might have liked to visit it, but even if he knew Teresa Hooley's poem his dream of Opel's land isn't necessarily the same "dream in a mist of grey".

sources →
Hooley, Teresa. "The Charnwood Hills." Songs of the Open. London: Jonathan Cape, 1921. 23. Print. http://www.blackcatpoems.com/h/the_charnwood_hills.html
Kev747. "Beacon Hill, Leicestershire.jpg." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charnwood_Forest