Compensation by Carol Atherton (Briggs) Mason

Not in each shell the diver brings to air
Is found the priceless pearl, but only where
Mangled, and torn, and bruised well-nigh to death,
The wounded oyster draws its labouring breath.
Oh, tried and suffering soul! gauge here your gain;
The pearl of patience is the fruit of pain.

From: Mason, Carol Atherton (Briggs), The Lost Ring, and Other Poems, 1892, Houghton, Mifflin and Company: Boston, p. 61.
(http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015063758315;seq=73;view=1up;num=61)

Date: 1892

By: Carol Atherton (Briggs) Mason (1823-1890)