| AND then I pressed the shell | |
| Close to my ear | |
| And listened well, | |
| And straightway like a bell | |
| Came low and clear | 5 |
| The slow, sad murmur of the distant seas, | |
| Whipped by an icy breeze | |
| Upon a shore | |
| Wind-swept and desolate. | |
| It was a sunless strand that never bore | 10 |
| The footprint of a man, | |
| Nor felt the weight | |
| Since time began | |
| Of any human quality or stir | |
| Save what the dreary winds and waves incur. | 15 |
| And in the hush of waters was the sound | |
| Of pebbles rolling round, | |
| For ever rolling with a hollow sound. | |
| And bubbling sea-weeds as the waters go | |
| Swish to and fro | 20 |
| Their long, cold tentacles of slimy grey. | |
| There was no day, | |
| Nor ever came a night | |
| Setting the stars alight | |
| To wonder at the moon: | 25 |
| Was twilight only and the frightened croon, | |
| Smitten to whimpers, of the dreary wind | |
| And waves that journeyed blind— | |
| And then I loosed my ear ... O, it was sweet | |
| To hear a cart go jolting down the street. | 30 |
