This page has been validated.
PEBBLES
Pebbles, pebbles by the sea,
Is it, I wonder, better to be
Snatch’d away by the hurrying waves,
Swallow’d down to the rolling caves,
Where the mad water wrestles and raves:
Dash’d upon rocks, champ'd amid foam,
Toss’d and turn’d,
Trampled and churn’d,
Spued out at last on the self-same shore,
Flung back awhile to the self-same home,
—Not the same pebbles as before!
But smooth’d and rounded and jewel bright,
A line of laughter, a dance of light,
The shore’s glory, the sun’s delight:
84
