Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs By Walter Thornbury. Illustrated by J. Whistler, F. Walker, John Tenniel, J. D. Watson, W. Small, F. Sandys, G. J. Pinwell, T. Morten, M. J. Lawless, and many others |
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Shells.
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 | Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs |  |
Shells.
From soundings twenty fathoms down,
Deep, deep below the mountain wave;
From that unutterable calm
Where the worn seaman finds a grave;
Deep, deep below the mountain wave;
From that unutterable calm
Where the worn seaman finds a grave;
Where storms nor sunshine ever reach—
Death's frontier—where the tempests cease;
Where never sound of sorrow comes,
And all is silence, all is peace;
Death's frontier—where the tempests cease;
Where never sound of sorrow comes,
And all is silence, all is peace;
I dredged a handful of sea-shells—
Small beaded dust. But, who would stay
To scrutinize mere lees and drift,
Thrown by at the creation day?
Small beaded dust. But, who would stay
To scrutinize mere lees and drift,
Thrown by at the creation day?
“Nature has idled here,” I said,
“Folded her arms while worlds were spinning,
Accomplished nothing of her plans,
But lingered in the mere beginning.”
“Folded her arms while worlds were spinning,
Accomplished nothing of her plans,
But lingered in the mere beginning.”
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Fool that I was! a closer gaze
Taught me that Nature never sleeps;
And that the sea's her treasure-house,
Where she her choicest jewels keeps.
Taught me that Nature never sleeps;
And that the sea's her treasure-house,
Where she her choicest jewels keeps.
What rosy pearls, bright zoned or striped!
What freckled surface, iris-dyed!
Fluted and grooved, with iv'ry lips,
Spotted like panthers, peacock-eyed!
What freckled surface, iris-dyed!
Fluted and grooved, with iv'ry lips,
Spotted like panthers, peacock-eyed!
Look closer, as the angels can,
And you will see the fairy work—
The ruby specks, the azure veins,
That in the tiniest hollow, lurk.
And you will see the fairy work—
The ruby specks, the azure veins,
That in the tiniest hollow, lurk.
Was it for us that Nature decked
These smallest of created things,
Then hid them in the boundless deep?
Say, why do Autumns follow Springs?
These smallest of created things,
Then hid them in the boundless deep?
Say, why do Autumns follow Springs?
Mark an Artificer Divine
In these, in all, thou sneering one!
Deride the God who made the fly,
You scorn the God who made the sun!
In these, in all, thou sneering one!
Deride the God who made the fly,
You scorn the God who made the sun!
| Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs | |