For I did not bring home the river and sky;

He sang to my ear—they sing to my eye.

The delicate shell lay on the shore;

The bubbles of the latest wave

Fresh pearls to their emerald gave;

And the bellowing of the savage sea

Greeted their safe escape to me.

I wiped away the weeds and foam,

And fetched my sea-born treasures home;

But the poor, unsightly, noisome things