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by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 - 1894)

This is the ship of pearl, which, poets...
Language: English 
This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
Sails the unshadowed main, --
The venturous bark that flings
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
And coral reefs lie bare,
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.
 
Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
And every chambered cell,
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
Before thee lies revealed, --
Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!
 
Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year's dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.
 
Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
Child of the wandering sea,
Cast from her lap, forlorn!
From thy dead lips a clearer note is born
Than ever Triton blew from wreathèd horn!
While on mine ear it rings,
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings: --
 
Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 - 1894), "The chambered nautilus", appears in The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, first published 1858 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "The chambered nautilus", op. 66, published 1907 [ alto, contralto, SSAA chorus, piano, and organ ad libitum ], cantata [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Arthur Farwell (1872 - 1952), "Build thee more stately mansions", published 1901, rev. 1929 [ SATB chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Sylvester Fearis (1867 - 1932), "The chambered nautilus", published 1921 [ medium voice, SATB chorus, and piano ], cantata [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Hugh Gartlan (1882 - 1963), "The chambered nautilus", 1910 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George La Munyon , "The chambered nautilus", published 1906 [ low voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Russell Hancock Miles (b. 1895), "The chambered nautilus", published 1944 [ alto, soprano, SATB chorus, piano, and optional organ ], cantata [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Carl F. Mueller (1892 - 1982), "Build thee more stately mansions", published 1936 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Joseph) Deems Taylor (1885 - 1966), "The chambered nautilus", op. 7, published 1914 [ SATB chorus, piano, organ, and orchestra ], cantata [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gordon Ellsworth Young (b. 1919), "Build thee more stately mansions" [ SATB chorus ], from Voices in Praise [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-11-22
Line count: 35
Word count: 245

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