To a Snail

If " compression is the first grace of style, "

you have it. Contractility is a virtue

as modesty is a virtue.

It is not the acquisition of any one thing

that is able to adorn,

or the incidental quality that occurs

as a concomitant of something well said,

that we value in style,

but the principle that is hid:

in the absence of feet, " a method of conclusions " ;

" a knowledge of principles, "

In the curious phenomenon of your occipital horn.