Some "Shell-fishes" 149 



stormless voyages, wherried their tiny mariners." " Pink- 

 lipped and rosy," sometimes " humming," and one poet has 

 the line, "all the wonders of the cockle-shell." Yes, they 

 are wondrous things these gifts of the sea, strewn upon our 

 beaches as hints of hidden treasures : 



" Gold, amber, ivory, pearls, ouches, rings, 

 And all that else was precious and dear ; 

 The sea unto him voluntary brings." Spenser. 



Then, too, that beautiful cave-recalling whisper of the 

 shells : 



"Apply 



Its polished lips to your attentive ear, 

 And it remembers its august abodes ; 

 And murmurs as the ocean murmurs there." 



And again : 



' ' I have seen 



A curious child who dwelt upon a tract 

 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 

 The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell, 

 To which, in silence hushed, his very soul 

 Listened intensely ; and his countenance soon 

 Brightened with joy ; for murmurings from within 

 Were heard, sonorous cadences ! whereby 

 To his belief, the monitor expressed 

 Mysterious union with its native sea." Wordsworth. 



These are fine passages. But for most of the poets the 

 shell and its occupant denote only the "lowest " form of life 

 and intelligence. "From the mute shell-fish to man," 

 touches the extreme poles, and Pope in conchology finds 

 the lowest deeps of dulness : 



" Yet by some object every brain is stirr'd, 

 The dell may waken to a humming-bird ; 

 The most recluse, discreetly open'd, find 

 Congenial matter in the cockle-kind." 



In contrast is Somerville's admiration, albeit tempered by 

 a pitiful " poor " and a qualifying " even : " 



