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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SONNETEER TO THE SEA-SHELL, by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER Poet's Biography
First Line: Fair ocean shell, the poet's art is weak
Last Line: Nor in one flash deliver all thy light.
Subject(s): Shells; Conchology
First Line: Fair ocean shell, the poet's art is weak
Last Line: Nor in one flash deliver all thy light.
Subject(s): Shells; Conchology
Fair ocean shell, the poet's art is weak
To utter all thy rich variety!
How thou dost shame him when he tries to speak,
And tell his ear the rapture of his eye!
I cannot paint as very truth requires
The gold-green gleam that o'er thee breaks and roves,
Nor follow up with words thy flying fires,
Where'er the startled rose-light wakes and moves.
Ah! why perplex with all thy countless hues
The single-hearted sonnet? Fare thee well!
I give thee up to some gay lyric muse,
As fitful as thyself, thy tale to tell:
The quick-spent sonnet cannot do thee right
Nor in one flash deliver all thy light.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
TANKA DIARY (2) by HARRYETTE MULLEN
APPRECIATION by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
TO SOME LADIES [ON RECEIVING A CURIOUS SHELL] by JOHN KEATS
ON SOME SHELLS FOUND INLAND by TRUMBULL STICKNEY
WITH A NANTUCKET SHELL by CHARLES HENRY WEBB
AN ENGLISH SHELL by ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER BENSON
SEA LAVENDER by LOUISE MOREY BOWMAN
HER FIRST-BORN by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER