Mimma Bella By Eugene Lee-Hamilton: With portrait of author |
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| VII. | VII. |
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| XX. |
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| XXVII. |
| XXVIII. |
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 | Mimma Bella |  |
15
VII.
We found a baby tortoise, whose green shell
Seemed carved by elfin hands; whose feet and head
Peeped shy and tiny on the garden bed
That was the world wherein God bade it dwell.
Seemed carved by elfin hands; whose feet and head
Peeped shy and tiny on the garden bed
That was the world wherein God bade it dwell.
We watched it for some mornings. Then befell
The cruelty of Fate. The careless tread
Of some unconscious foot: and lo, 'twas dead;
While Nature coldly smiled, and said: “All's well.”
The cruelty of Fate. The careless tread
Of some unconscious foot: and lo, 'twas dead;
While Nature coldly smiled, and said: “All's well.”
All's well?—O God, why bring into the world
A living thing, whose smallest dainty parts
Exceed man's nicest art; and then and there,
A living thing, whose smallest dainty parts
Exceed man's nicest art; and then and there,
Tortoise or babe, or blossom half unfurled,
Crush it beneath the fatal foot that starts
None knows from whence, and hurries none knows where?
Crush it beneath the fatal foot that starts
None knows from whence, and hurries none knows where?
| Mimma Bella | |