ALONE I walked the ocean strand; A pearly shell was in my hand: I stooped and wrote upon the sand My name -- the year -- the day. As onward from the spot I passed, One lingering look behind I cast; A wave came rolling high and fast, And washed my lines away. And so, methought, 't will shortly be With every mark on earth from me: A wave of dark oblivion's sea Will sweep across the place Where I have trod the sandy shore Of time, and been, to be no more, Of me -- my day -- the name I bore, To leave nor track nor trace. And yet, with Him who counts the sands And holds the waters in his hands, I know a lasting record stands Inscribed against my name, Of all this mortal part has wrought, Of all this thinking soul has thought, And from these fleeting moments caught For glory or for shame. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ORANGUTAN REHAB by KAREN SWENSON THE SUN GOD by AUBREY THOMAS DE VERE MACFLECKNOE; OR, A SATIRE UPON THE TRUE-BLUE-PROTESTANT POET by JOHN DRYDEN THE MAIZE by WILLIAM WHITEMAN FOSDICK THE IMPERCIPIENT (AT A CATHEDRAL SERVICE) by THOMAS HARDY SPORTSMEN IN PARADISE by T. P. CAMERON WILSON THE CHEAT OF CUPID; OR THE UNGENTLE GUEST by ANACREON |