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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WALLS DO NOT FALL: 4, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: There is a spell, for instance
Last Line: That pearl-of-great-price.
Alternate Author Name(s): H. D.; Aldington, Richard, Mrs.
Subject(s): Bible; Self


There is a spell, for instance,
in every sea-shell:

continuous, the sea-thrust
powerless against coral,

bone, stone, marble
hewn from within by that craftsman,

the shell-fish:
oyster, clam, mollusc

is master-mason planning
the stone marvel:

yet that flabby, amorphous hermit
within, like the planet

senses the finite,
it limits its orbit

of being, its house,
temple, fane, shrine:

it unlocks the portals
at stated intervals:

prompted by hunger,
it opens to the tide-flow:

but infinity? no,
of nothing-too-much:

I sense my own limit,
my shell-jaws snap shut

at invasion of the limitless,
ocean-weight; infinite water

can not crack me, egg in egg-shell;
closed in, complete, immortal

full circle, I know the pull
of the tide, the lull

as well as the moon;
the octopus darkness

is powerless against
her cold immortality;

so I in my own way know
that the whale

can not digest me:
be firm in your own small, static, limited

orbit and the shark-jaws
of outer circumstance

will spit you forth:
be indigestible, hard, ungiving,

so that, living within,
you beget, self-out-of-self,

selfless,
that pearl-of-great-price.




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