Shells from the Coast Mistaking

Shells from the Coast Mistaking - meaning Summary

Finding Worth in Delayed Gifts

The poem describes a speaker who has long treasured empty shells, imagining they would one day contain a pearl. That expectation frames a delayed hope for fulfillment. When the speaker finally expresses the need, the poem records a response: the pearl declares its own timing has come. The poem sketches a quiet shift from misrecognized value and patient hoping to a belated but actual commencement of what was awaited.