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English Roses

by F. Harald Williams [i.e. F. W. O. Ward]

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A SEA-SHELL

Oh, when I read the mystic shell,
That makes a music in my blood
Of every ancient shore and flood
And wakens dreams I cannot tell,
Within its storied bosom curl'd;

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I bathe within the founts that flow
From the dim lands of Long-ago,
And water all the living world.
For in a solemn marriage sight
That bridges time's remotest bound,
And one with every sweetest sound
That passes into love and light;
And in old memories unfurl'd
I bathe within the founts that flow
From the dim lands of Long-ago,
And water all the living world.
From awful height and hidden deep
And iron coast and tossing surge
A thousand thousand waves converge
To view from unremembered sleep,
Without the thunders that they hurl'd;
I bathe within the founts that flow
From the dim lands of Long-ago,
And water all the living world.