Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SHELLS, by THOMAS STURGE MOORE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SHELLS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Nature nothing shows more rare
Last Line: Are formed art, virtue, truth.
Alternate Author Name(s): Moore, T. Sturge
Subject(s): Shells; Conchology


NATURE nothing shows more rare
Than shells, not even flowers; no,
Unfading petals tinted glow
Where ocean's obscure weight is air;
Where winds are currents, streams or tides,
Life to perfect their beauty hides.

Each hinged valve curves out and rims
Pink, yellow, purple, green or blue,
A colour-whisper's graded hue;
While dinted lobe, spine or rib limns
Crisp helmet, cusped shard to wing.
Full panoply for fairy king.

In easy air and warm light nursed
Bloom wit and love with glamour fraught,
And brave but flower-like youth:
Like brittle shells, long years immersed,
Secreted by toil, conscience, thought,
Are formed art, virtue, truth.





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