I SEND thee a shell from the ocean beach; <br />But listen thou well, for my shell hath speech. <br />Hold to thine ear, <br />And plain thou’lt hear <br />Tales of ships <br />That were lost in the rips, <br />Or that sunk on shoals <br />Where the bell-buoy tolls, <br />And ever and ever its iron tongue rolls <br />In a ceaseless lament for the poor lost souls. <br /> <br />And a song of the sea <br />Has my shell for thee; <br />The melody in it <br />Was hummed at Wauwinet, <br />And caught at Coatue <br />By the gull that flew <br />Outside to the ship with its perishing crew. <br />But the white wings wave <br />Where none may save, <br />And there ’s never a stone to mark a grave. <br /> <br />See, its sad heart bleeds <br />For the sailors’ needs; <br />But it bleeds again <br />For more mortal pain, <br />More sorrow and woe, <br />Than is theirs who go <br />With shuddering eyes and whitening lips <br />Down in the sea on their shattered ships. <br /> <br />Thou fearest the sea? <br />And a tyrant is he,— <br />A tyrant as cruel as tyrant may be; <br />But though winds fierce blow, <br />And the rocks lie low, <br />And the coast be lee, <br />This I say to thee: <br />Of Christian souls more have been wrecked on shore <br />Than ever were lost at sea!<br /><br />Charles Harper Webb<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/with-a-nantucket-shell-2/
