| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Sea-Shell Murmurs |
| | | Eugene Lee-Hamilton (b. 1845) |
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| THE HOLLOW sea-shell, which for years hath stood | |
| On dusty shelves, when held against the ear | |
| Proclaims its stormy parents; and we hear | |
| The faint far murmur of the breaking flood. | |
| We hear the sea. The sea? It is the blood | 5 |
| In our own veins, impetuous and near, | |
| And pulses keeping pace with hope and fear | |
| And with our feeling’s every shifting mood. | |
| Lo, in my heart I hear, as in a shell, | |
| The murmur of a world beyond the grave, | 10 |
| Distinct, distinct, though faint and far it be. | |
| Thou fool; this echo is a cheat as well,— | |
| The hum of earthly instincts; and we crave | |
| A world unreal as the shell-heard sea. | |
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