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THE TUTELAGE by ROBERT MOWRY BELL

First Line: IN THE COILED SHELL SOUNDS OCEAN'S DISTANT ROAR
Last Line: "LIFE RULED BY LOVE NOR DIES NOR DISSIPATES."

IN the coiled shell sounds Ocean's distant roar,
Oft to our listening hearts come heavenly strains; --
Men say, "That was the blood in our own veins,
And this, -- but the echo of our hope; no more."
And yet, the murmuring sea exists, which bore
That frail creation o'er its watery plains;
And on Time's sands full many a shell remains
Tossed by Eternity upon its shore.
Its tongue our hope from Nature's self has caught.
Matter nor force is lost as aeons roll.
And mind? -- Love life conserves and death abates, --
Through the long ages this has nature taught.
Under the stars she plights the wistful soul:
"Life ruled by Love nor dies nor dissipates."



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