Elgar wrote few songs, and Sea Pictures is his only song cycle with orchestra. He wrote it for Clara Butt, who gave the first performance at the Norwich festival in October 1899, in a dress that was said to represent a mermaid. The five songs are to poems by different authors, mostly now forgotten.

Sea Slumber Song is by Roden Noel and refers to Kynance Cove in Cornwall. The arpeggios and rocking motion depict a gentle shore by night, where "sea birds are asleep" and the "sea-sound like violins". It ends with a repeated "good night".

In Haven is a short and rather good poem by Elgar's wife Alice. There are three short verses, each ending with the enduring power of love, and the setting is indeed lovely.

Sabbath Morning at Sea is part of a longer poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The words are somewhat High-Victorian and Elgar sets it in a suitably grandiose manner.

Where Corals Lie is a delicate poem by Richard Garrett; the voice of the sea lures the poet to "the land where corals lie" - the sea floor. The accompaniment is subtle and playful, and conceals the menace of the implied drowning.

The Swimmer is by Adam Lindsay Gordon, and is bold and declamatory, though it also recalls music from earlier numbers.