Page:Poems of nature, Thoreau, 1895.djvu/38

 THE FISHER'S BOY

life is like a stroll upon the beach,

As near the ocean's edge as I can go;

My tardy steps its waves sometimes o'erreach,

Sometimes I stay to let them overflow.

My sole employment 'tis, and scrupulous care,

To place my gains beyond the reach of tides,

Each smoother pebble, and each shell more rare,

Which Ocean kindly to my hand confides.

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