PEARLS. 287 



trade. Yet these costly gems have no pretensions to any 

 actual use, as their value arises merely from their rarity 

 and beauty, united to that general predilection for orna- 

 mental decorations which seems natural to mankind, both 

 in a savage and civiKzed state. 



What bringest thou up from the briny deep. 

 Where hidden in caves the wild winds keep 



Their ceaseless reveliy ? 

 Thy hair is wet, and the dripping spray 

 Doth wrap thee around, as a mantle grey, 



'Mid the roar of the deep, deep sea. 



A few rough shells are the simple store 



Which thou flingest, all faint, on the sounding shore. 



Small value, methinks, are they ; 

 Is thy life of no worth, or so small thy gain, 

 O Diver, that thus from the raging main 



Thou bearest those shells away ? 



Those shells have no worth in the unpractised eye, 

 But within them rich pearls in their beauty lie, 



Choice gifts fi'om the deep, deep sea ; — 

 Globes of light that are formed in each rough-coated shell, 

 Borne up from dark caves where the wild waters dwell. 



They are pleading, Stranger, with thee. 



