Alone I walked the ocean strand
                                A pearly shell was in my hand
                            I stooped and wrote upon the sand
                                  My name, the year, the day.

                             As onward from this spot I passed
                               One lingering look behind I cast
                             A wave came rolling high and fast
                                  And washed my lines away.

                               And so I thought twill quickly be
                            With every mark on earth from me
                                  A wave of dark oblivion 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
                                   And 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
                           All from these fleeting moments caught
                                           For glory or for shame.
 

                                                 Hannah Flagg Gould