The Nautilus and the Ammonite
The nautilus and the ammoniteWere launched in friendly strife,Each sent to float in its tiny boatOn the wide, wide sea of life.
For each could swim on the ocean’s brim,And, when wearied, its sail could furl,And sink to sleep in the great sea-deep,In its palace all of pearl.
And theirs was a bliss more fair than thisWhich we taste in our colder clime;For they were rife in a tropic life--A brighter and better clime.
They swam ’mid isles whose summer smilesWere dimmed by no alloy;Whose groves were palm, whose air was balm,And life one only joy.
They sailed all day through creek and bay,And traversed the ocean deep;And at night they sank on a coral bank,In its fairy bowers to sleep.
And the monsters vast of ages pastThey beheld in their ocean caves;They saw them ride in their power and pride,And sink in their deep-sea graves.
And hand in hand, from strand to strand,They sailed in mirth and glee;These fairy shells, with their crystal cells,Twin sisters of the sea.
And they came at last to a sea long past,But as they reached its shore,The Almighty’s breath spoke out in death,And the ammonite was no more.
So the nautilus now in its shelly prow,As over the deep it strays,Still seems to seek, in bay and creek,Its companion of other days.
And alike do we, on life’s stormy sea,As we roam from shore to shore,Thus tempest-tossed, seek the loved, the lost,And find them on earth no more.
Yet the hope how sweet, again to meet,As we look to a distant strand,Where heart meets heart, and no more they partWho meet in that better land.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- furl v. t.
- To draw up or gather into close compass; to wrap or roll, as a sail, close to the yard, stay, or mast, or, as a flag, close to or around its staff, securing it there by a gasket or line. Totten. [Contr. fr. furdle, fr. fardel bundle: cf. F. ferler to furl, OF. fardeler to pack. See Furdle, Fardel, and cf. Farl.]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Nautilus and the Ammonite is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, The Nautilus and the Ammonite, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/the-nautilus-and-the-ammonite.html, id L25267.
Form and metre
The Nautilus and the Ammonite is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A ammonite · strifeA · boat · lifeA
- 2 -A-A brim · furlA · deep · pearlA
- 3 -A-A this · climeA · life · climeA
- 4 -A-A smiles · alloyA · balm · joyA
- 5 -A-A bay · deepA · bank · sleepA
- 6 -A-A past · cavesA · pride · gravesA
- 7 -A-A strand · gleeA · cells · seaA
- 8 -A-A past · shoreA · death · moreA
- 9 -A-A prow · straysA · creek · daysA
- 10 -A-A sea · shoreA · lost · moreA
- 11 -A-A meet · strandA · part · landA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The nautilus and the ammonite | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Were launched in friendly strife, | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| Each sent to float in its tiny boat | 9 | ······/˘· |
| On the wide, wide sea of life. | 7 | ······· |
| For each could swim on the ocean’s brim, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And, when wearied, its sail could furl, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And sink to sleep in the great sea-deep, | 9 | ········· |
| In its palace all of pearl. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And theirs was a bliss more fair than this | 9 | ········· |
| Which we taste in our colder clime; | 8 | ····//˘· |
| For they were rife in a tropic life-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A brighter and better clime. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| They swam ’mid isles whose summer smiles | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Were dimmed by no alloy; | 7 | ··˘··/· |
| Whose groves were palm, whose air was balm, | 8 | ········ |
| And life one only joy. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They sailed all day through creek and bay, | 8 | ········ |
| And traversed the ocean deep; | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And at night they sank on a coral bank, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In its fairy bowers to sleep. | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| And the monsters vast of ages past | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| They beheld in their ocean caves; | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| They saw them ride in their power and pride, | 9 | ······/·· |
| And sink in their deep-sea graves. | 7 | ······· |
| And hand in hand, from strand to strand, | 8 | ········ |
| They sailed in mirth and glee; | 7 | ··˘···· |
| These fairy shells, with their crystal cells, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Twin sisters of the sea. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And they came at last to a sea long past, | 10 | ·········· |
| But as they reached its shore, | 7 | ····˘·· |
| The Almighty’s breath spoke out in death, | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| And the ammonite was no more. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| So the nautilus now in its shelly prow, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| As over the deep it strays, | 7 | ······· |
| Still seems to seek, in bay and creek, | 8 | ········ |
| Its companion of other days. | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
| And alike do we, on life’s stormy sea, | 10 | ·˘/····/˘· |
| As we roam from shore to shore, | 7 | ······· |
| Thus tempest-tossed, seek the loved, the lost, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And find them on earth no more. | 7 | ······· |
| Yet the hope how sweet, again to meet, | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| As we look to a distant strand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where heart meets heart, and no more they part | 9 | ········· |
| Who meet in that better land. | 7 | ····/˘· |
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