quote · Legacy record
Alone I walk’d the ocean strand, A pearly shell was in my hand; I stoop’d and wrote upon the sand My name, the year, the day. As onward from the spot I pass’d, One lingering look I fondly cast; A wave came rolling high and fast, And wash’d my lines away. And so, methought, ’twill shortly be With every mark on earth from me; A wave of dark oblivion’s sea Will sweep across the place Where I have trod the sandy shore Of time, and been to be no more; Of me—my day—the name I bore, To leave no track nor trace. And yet with Him, who counts the sands, And holds the waters in His hands, I know a lasting record stands Inscribed against my name, Of all this mortal part has wrought— Of all this thinking soul has thought, And from these fleeting moments caught For glory or for shame.
Alone I walk’d the ocean strand, A pearly shell was in my hand; I stoop’d and wrote upon the sand My name, the year, the day. As onward from the spot I pass’d, One lingering look I fondly cast; A wave came rolling high and fast, And wash’d my lines away. And so, methought, ’twill shortly be With every mark on earth from me; A wave of dark oblivion’s sea Will sweep across the place Where I have trod the sandy shore Of time, and been to be no more; Of me—my day—the name I bore, To leave no track nor trace. And yet with Him, who counts the sands, And holds the waters in His hands, I know a lasting record stands Inscribed against my name, Of all this mortal part has wrought— Of all this thinking soul has thought, And from these fleeting moments caught For glory or for shame.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Miss Gould (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 414 · printed citation: Miss Gould · subject: NAME
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.