The Nautilus and the Ammonite. 135 



Thus hand in hand, from strand to strand, 



They sail'd in mirth and glee ; 

 Those fairy shells, with their crystal cells, 



Twin creatures of the sea. 



But they came at last to a sea long past, 



And as they reach'd its shore, 

 The Almighty's breath spake out in death, 



And the Ammonite liv'd no more. 



And the Nautilus now in its shelly prow, 



As o'er the deep it strays, 

 Still seems to seek, in bay and creek, 



Its companion of other days. 



And thus do we, in life's stormy sea, 



As we roam from shore to shore ; 

 While tempest-tost, seek the lov'd— the lost, 



But find them on earth no more ! 



G. F. EicHARDsoir. 



