Waves and waterfalls in young girls' hair

...Led by amazement as if it were a seal
Walking ahead of him up the Aran shingle
In a clawhammer coat and top hat, dressed to kill
About to enter a public house or kitchen

The way he would himself, like Arion
Arriving in off the waves, off the dolphin's back,
Oblivious-seeming, but taking it all in
And glad of another chance to believe his luck.

-- from Late in the Day by Seamus Heaney (Electric Light, 2001).

The 'he' is David Thomson, author of Nairn in Darkness and Light