THE SHELL TO THE PEARL

Grow not so fast, glow not so warm;

Thy hidden fires burn too wild —

Too perfect is thy rounded form;

Cling close, my child.

Be yet my babe, rest quiet when

The great sea-urges beat and call;

Too soon wilt thou be ripe for men,

The world and all.

Thy shining skin, thy silken sheath,

These will undo thee all too soon;

And men will fight for thee beneath

Some paler moon...

Aye, thou my own, my undefiled,

Shalt make the lewd world dream and start,

When they have seized and torn thee, child,

Out of my heart.

With velvets shall thy bed be laid;

A royal captive thou shalt be —

And oh, what prices will be paid

To ransom thee.

Thy path shall be a track of gold,

Of lust, of death and countless crimes;

Bought by a sensual world — and sold

A thousand times...

And each shall lose thee at the last,

Hating, yet still desiring thee...

While I lie, where I have been cast,

Back in the sea.

So wait — and, lest the world transform

Thy soul and make thee wanton-wild,

Grow not so fast, glow not so warm,

Cling close, my child.