Shells

Far out at sea a tiny boat
Has set its tiny sail,
And, swiftly, see it onward float,
As freshens still the gale.
A rainbow in it must have slept
To lend it tints so fair,
Or loveliest angel o'er it wept —
A pearl in every tear.
Fairer than pen of mine can tell
Sails on that fearless tiny shell.
Deep in the chambers of the sea,
Where storied mermaids dwell,
A palace stood: and seemed to me,
Its every stone a shell;
And oh, what glorious hues were they
That sparkled on my eyes,
Of blue and gold, and red and gray,
Like tints of western skies!
As violets sweet in loveliest dells,
So blushed unseen those beauteous shells.
Thus, on the sea, and 'neath its waves
Those tinctured sea-gems lie,
Like tombstones set to mark the graves
Of low-born men and high;
And, when they rest upon the shore,
In wealth's luxuriant ease,
They sound to us the solemn roar
They learned beneath the seas, —
As exiles, though afar they roam,
Still sing the songs they learned at home.