Page:Tortoises, DH Lawrence, 1921.djvu/21



The Cross, the Cross Goes deeper in than we know, Deeper into life; Right into the marrow And through the bone.

Along the back of the baby tortoise The scales are locked in an arch like a bridge, Scale-lapping, like a lobster's sections Or a bee's.

Then crossways down his sides Tiger-stripes and wasp-bands.

Five, and five again, and five again, And round the edges twenty-five little ones, The sections of the baby tortoise shell.

Four, and a keystone; Four, and a keystone; Four, and a keystone; Then twenty-four, and a tiny little keystone. Rh