I am a shell. From me you shall not hear
The splendid tramplings of insistent drums,
The orbed gold of the viol's voice that comes,
Heavy with radiance, languorous and clear.
Yet, if you hold me close against the ear,
A dim, far whisper rises clamorously,
The thunderous beat and passion of the sea,
The slow surge of the tides that drown the mere.

Others with subtle hands may pluck the strings,
Making even Love in music audible,
And earth one glory. I am but a shell
That moves, not of itself, and moving sings;
Leaving a fragrance, faint as wine new-shed,
A tremulous murmur from great days long dead.


About this poem
"A Minor Poet" was published in Stephen Vincent Benet's book "Young Adventure" (Yale University Press, 1918).

About Stephen Vincent Benet
Stephen Vincent Benet was born on July 22, 1898, in Bethlehem, Penn. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1929 for his long poem "John Brown's Body" (1928) and again in 1944 for the posthumously published "Western Star" (1943). Benet died on March 13, 1943, in New York City.

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This poem is in the public domain. Distributed by King Features Syndicate