Chronicles and Characters By Robert Lytton (Owen Meredith): In Two Volumes |
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A MAN OF SCIENCE
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 | Chronicles and Characters |  |
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A MAN OF SCIENCE
OR THE BOTANIST'S GRAVE.
“Here lie the mortal remains” (I may spare you the limitless list
Of academies, institutes, colleges, orders, whereof he was member)
Of Doctor Theophilus Timothy Bloom, the renown'd botanist,
Deceased (so his gravestone instructs you) the fourteenth day of December,
Of academies, institutes, colleges, orders, whereof he was member)
Of Doctor Theophilus Timothy Bloom, the renown'd botanist,
Deceased (so his gravestone instructs you) the fourteenth day of December,
In the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty=two.”
See! the lichens, already revenging themselves on their former tormentor,
Sprawl over his new-cut name, and have hidden it half out of view.
Meanwhile, I that knew the man, mourning my mild-eyed Mentor,
See! the lichens, already revenging themselves on their former tormentor,
Sprawl over his new-cut name, and have hidden it half out of view.
Meanwhile, I that knew the man, mourning my mild-eyed Mentor,
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Graced in his dust by this epitaph lean and bald as himself,
Whom I fancy I still see spreading his specimens dry in the sun
He has taken his final farewell of, bequeathing, at least, to my shelf
Full forty folios in print, and a manuscript newly begun
Whom I fancy I still see spreading his specimens dry in the sun
He has taken his final farewell of, bequeathing, at least, to my shelf
Full forty folios in print, and a manuscript newly begun
On the carbonaceous compounds found in botanical tissues,—
Cellulose, glucose, lignine, dextrine, inuline, starch,—
A treatise laboriously written, and raising remarkable issues
On all questions of cellular structure, commenced but a year back in March,—
Cellulose, glucose, lignine, dextrine, inuline, starch,—
A treatise laboriously written, and raising remarkable issues
On all questions of cellular structure, commenced but a year back in March,—
For the honour and glory of Science, as well as my old friend's sake,
I, that knew him, I say, here relate you his life from beginning to end.
—Hark! how the throstle is singing! and yonder bluebells in the brake,
How they nod on the noontide airs! . . . Peace be to the soul of my friend!
I, that knew him, I say, here relate you his life from beginning to end.
—Hark! how the throstle is singing! and yonder bluebells in the brake,
How they nod on the noontide airs! . . . Peace be to the soul of my friend!
Man's life dwindles apace, while the world grows vaster and vaster,
And Nature, pleasing herself, smiles heedless of simple or sage.
Be it known, then, that Doctor Theophilus Timothy Bloom, our master,
Who has left us forlorn of his lights in the sixtieth year of his age,
And Nature, pleasing herself, smiles heedless of simple or sage.
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Who has left us forlorn of his lights in the sixtieth year of his age,
He, too (who could imagine it?), under that lean leathern hide of his
Once bore about the high-beating and bountiful heart of a boy,
A heart full of wonder and worship! Was passionate, too, in the pride of his
New-born belief in himself as a being capacious for joy.
Once bore about the high-beating and bountiful heart of a boy,
A heart full of wonder and worship! Was passionate, too, in the pride of his
New-born belief in himself as a being capacious for joy.
Bright you may image the eye of him (long since dull as a paste eye),
Bright with a brilliant hope in a July morning sweet,
When the boy's blithe step thro' the college cloister bounded hasty,
And, proud, at the door of the Teacher the passionate boy's heart beat.
Bright with a brilliant hope in a July morning sweet,
When the boy's blithe step thro' the college cloister bounded hasty,
And, proud, at the door of the Teacher the passionate boy's heart beat.
“Speak, my Pupil!” “O Master, I burn with a boundless impatience to know.”
“For this must I praise thee, my Pupil. For knowledge is joy to the creature
Created to know the Creator. Yet patience! since knowledge is slow,
Being infinite. What wouldst thou know?” And the boy, unabash'd, answer'd, “Nature.”
“For this must I praise thee, my Pupil. For knowledge is joy to the creature
Created to know the Creator. Yet patience! since knowledge is slow,
Being infinite. What wouldst thou know?” And the boy, unabash'd, answer'd, “Nature.”
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“Nature is vaster than knowledge. What wouldst thou know of her, my son?”
“Not, O Master, the act, which I see, but the thought, which I cannot discern:
I stand in the centre, gaze round me, see everywhere action alone,
And find nowhere the source of the thought found in action wherever I turn.”
“Not, O Master, the act, which I see, but the thought, which I cannot discern:
I stand in the centre, gaze round me, see everywhere action alone,
And find nowhere the source of the thought found in action wherever I turn.”
Said the Teacher, “In order, my Pupil, to reach to the source of the thought,
We must follow the act in succession. The thought may be one, once for all,
All at once; but the action is many and diverse, to unity brought
In the mind by slow aggregates growing alike from the great and the small.
We must follow the act in succession. The thought may be one, once for all,
All at once; but the action is many and diverse, to unity brought
In the mind by slow aggregates growing alike from the great and the small.
“There is but one vast universal dynamic, one mover, one might,
Variously operant under the various conditions it finds:
And we call that by turns electricity, friction, caloric, and light,
Which is none of these things, and yet all of them. Ask of the waves and the winds,
Variously operant under the various conditions it finds:
And we call that by turns electricity, friction, caloric, and light,
Which is none of these things, and yet all of them. Ask of the waves and the winds,
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“Ask of the stars of the firmament, ask of the flowers of the field,
They will answer you all of them, naming it each by a different name.
For the meaning of Nature is neither wholly conceal'd nor reveal'd,
But her mind is seen to be single in her acts that are no-where the same.
They will answer you all of them, naming it each by a different name.
For the meaning of Nature is neither wholly conceal'd nor reveal'd,
But her mind is seen to be single in her acts that are no-where the same.
“Each of these acts is a spy and informer upon her: and any
Of the separate sciences, following these, may be follow'd by man:
For the goal of man's mind is one, but the goings of men's minds many,
And each, by his own way going, must get to the goal as he can.
Of the separate sciences, following these, may be follow'd by man:
For the goal of man's mind is one, but the goings of men's minds many,
And each, by his own way going, must get to the goal as he can.
“By the hundred ways that await you are waiting a hundred guides:
Yet you can but walk one way at a time, follow one guide, use
One chart, in despite of the ninety-nine others each comer decides
At the outset to take or renounce, as his choice may predominate. Choose!”
Yet you can but walk one way at a time, follow one guide, use
One chart, in despite of the ninety-nine others each comer decides
At the outset to take or renounce, as his choice may predominate. Choose!”
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Heavy, then, hearing this, was the heart of the student, whose soul
But a moment before on her wing was uplifting the world's light load,
And, “How can I choose me, O Master, the road, since I see not the goal?
Or how can I choose me the guide, since I see not even the road?”
But a moment before on her wing was uplifting the world's light load,
And, “How can I choose me, O Master, the road, since I see not the goal?
Or how can I choose me the guide, since I see not even the road?”
The Master, smiling, answer'd . . . “Of the works of Nature, those
Wherein her method of working is easiest found of detection,
Are certain living bodies whose life can but feebly oppose
The life-seeking, life-slaying process of scientific dissection:
Wherein her method of working is easiest found of detection,
Are certain living bodies whose life can but feebly oppose
The life-seeking, life-slaying process of scientific dissection:
“These bodies are vegetal bodies: the dealing of Science with these
Is the least of her difficult labours. Begin, then, with Botany . . . Stay!
Open the door before you, and turn to the right, if you please.
You are in the Botanical Class, now. Stay here, friend. I wish you good day.”
Is the least of her difficult labours. Begin, then, with Botany . . . Stay!
Open the door before you, and turn to the right, if you please.
You are in the Botanical Class, now. Stay here, friend. I wish you good day.”
So sitteth Theophilus perch'd on the brim of the beaker of knowledge,
Poor fly! sipping . . . Nature? no, Botany,—merely one kind of ingredient
Of the complex Elixir he thirsts for:—the blue-eyed hope of the College,
A maiden-minded student, humble of heart and obedient.
Poor fly! sipping . . . Nature? no, Botany,—merely one kind of ingredient
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A maiden-minded student, humble of heart and obedient.
But O what a hopeless confusion doth Order at first sight appear!
Unwearied Theophilus, sitting, and conning the grammar of Nature,
Thro' the whole of the humming hot noon with the cuckoo's note cleaving it clear,
Is it knowledge thou seekest? Then patience, and master, meanwhile, nomenclature.
Unwearied Theophilus, sitting, and conning the grammar of Nature,
Thro' the whole of the humming hot noon with the cuckoo's note cleaving it clear,
Is it knowledge thou seekest? Then patience, and master, meanwhile, nomenclature.
So, like a drunken bee, you behold him, bewilder'd, floundering,
Foot-deep, faint in the pollen; or, now, climbing filaments, high on
The polypetalous whorl; now, wandering round and around a ring
Rotate, campanulate, ventricose, valvate . . . O wheel of Ixion!
Foot-deep, faint in the pollen; or, now, climbing filaments, high on
The polypetalous whorl; now, wandering round and around a ring
Rotate, campanulate, ventricose, valvate . . . O wheel of Ixion!
Day after day, and still darkness. At length a light breaks on the labour.
For Linnæus, the Lecturer tells us, has classified plants, single-handed.
“Classification of plants?” . . . All hail! bid the pipe and the tabor
Be joyful! the chaos grows cosmic: at length on firm ground we are landed!
For Linnæus, the Lecturer tells us, has classified plants, single-handed.
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Be joyful! the chaos grows cosmic: at length on firm ground we are landed!
No! . . . For this classification, the learnèd Professor continues,
Is utterly wrong; since it separates plants into sexes, like men;
Whereas plants are not plagued, like us humans, in that way. So brace up your sinews,
Push on, and good-by to Linnæus. The light's out. All darkness again.
Is utterly wrong; since it separates plants into sexes, like men;
Whereas plants are not plagued, like us humans, in that way. So brace up your sinews,
Push on, and good-by to Linnæus. The light's out. All darkness again.
Not that, just yet, it much matters: no cause, at the least, for dejection.
Here's a new house, where the first thing is simply to stow away lumber;
Make yourself room to look round you; in time, after further reflection,
Doubtless you'll hit on some better arrangement; and, once disencumber
Here's a new house, where the first thing is simply to stow away lumber;
Make yourself room to look round you; in time, after further reflection,
Doubtless you'll hit on some better arrangement; and, once disencumber
The ground that you stand upon, presently things will drop into their places,
Each his appropriate corner find out, and most fitting relation:
So, till the fates find a fitter one, let us, not making long faces,
But thankful enough to Linnæus, put up with his classification.
Each his appropriate corner find out, and most fitting relation:
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But thankful enough to Linnæus, put up with his classification.
New light anon! Hope of haven descried from a different shore, now!
Where Science, in France, clearer-sighted, escaped from all tangle and trammel, eyes
The whole of the vegetal world in neat groups, and has fix'd evermore now
This fact,—that, tho' plants have no sexes, they nevertheless may have families.
Where Science, in France, clearer-sighted, escaped from all tangle and trammel, eyes
The whole of the vegetal world in neat groups, and has fix'd evermore now
This fact,—that, tho' plants have no sexes, they nevertheless may have families.
Still, tho', the infinite found in the finite dismays our endeavour.
To the unknown perforce we abandon this vast starry sphere (sad confession!)
As baffling our bounded embrace: but it surely is hard when for ever
The least grain of sand we approach, growing reachless, eludes our possession.
To the unknown perforce we abandon this vast starry sphere (sad confession!)
As baffling our bounded embrace: but it surely is hard when for ever
The least grain of sand we approach, growing reachless, eludes our possession.
Worlds beyond worlds without end, we may make up our minds to relinquish:
But worlds within worlds without end make the heart of a man faint within him;
To be mock'd by a mite! and to feel that the lamp of our life must extinguish
Its light, ere, exploring, we measure immensity pack'd in a minim!
But worlds within worlds without end make the heart of a man faint within him;
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Its light, ere, exploring, we measure immensity pack'd in a minim!
To be crusht by a crystal of salt! to be foil'd by a film, or a flinder!
To be stopp'd like the merest, minutest of emmets, whose poor little progress
To the goal, where she drops underground, the least hump of a molehill may hinder!
A fortress to find in each fungus! in each lady Fly-trap an ogress!
To be stopp'd like the merest, minutest of emmets, whose poor little progress
To the goal, where she drops underground, the least hump of a molehill may hinder!
A fortress to find in each fungus! in each lady Fly-trap an ogress!
“One group, but one, from the million learn first to know something about, now,”
Says the Lecturer, leaving the pulpit, his brain for a while pump'd powerless,
“I propose to begin with the most elementary class, and give out now
As the theme of our next day's discourse, the class call'd Cryptogamic, or Flowerless.”
Says the Lecturer, leaving the pulpit, his brain for a while pump'd powerless,
“I propose to begin with the most elementary class, and give out now
As the theme of our next day's discourse, the class call'd Cryptogamic, or Flowerless.”
Deep, then, we plunge into Acrogens, Ætheogams, Amphigams, still:
Hope to get on by degrees into Exogens, Endogens: meantime
Moons wax and wane; summers fleet; from the Student, as patient he crams still
Dry leaves under tin lids, steals sighing the glad and the green time.
Hope to get on by degrees into Exogens, Endogens: meantime
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Dry leaves under tin lids, steals sighing the glad and the green time.
Sad! For I fancy . . . at times, as the moist eye wanes ever meeker,
And the lank yellow locks by degrees fall scant from the pure bald brow,
Much-tried Theophilus (still a sad-thoughted unsatisfied seeker)
Startled, perchance, by the cuckoo, or vext by green buds on the bough,
And the lank yellow locks by degrees fall scant from the pure bald brow,
Much-tried Theophilus (still a sad-thoughted unsatisfied seeker)
Startled, perchance, by the cuckoo, or vext by green buds on the bough,
Lifting those wide wan looks, with an unslaked grief in the gaze of them,
Into the high blue stillness of heaven, so still, and so high!
Watching the white clouds roll'd on the unreturning ways of them,
Murmuring among his books, with a deep dejected sigh,
Into the high blue stillness of heaven, so still, and so high!
Watching the white clouds roll'd on the unreturning ways of them,
Murmuring among his books, with a deep dejected sigh,
“Ah, but all this, after all, is not what I pined for! Up there
The veilèd Mystery sits on the solemn mountain peak:
The vast clouds form and change at her feet: and my heart's despair
Cries aloud where no auswer is heard: for this Silence never will speak.
The veilèd Mystery sits on the solemn mountain peak:
The vast clouds form and change at her feet: and my heart's despair
Cries aloud where no auswer is heard: for this Silence never will speak.
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“Yonder, up there, as of old, when he play'd on my heart's harp-strings,
The wind, with a surly music, is moaning aloof in the tree:
Yonder, up there, in the blue and the breezy mid-sky swings
The lanneret hawk, as of old, when my heart went higher than he.
The wind, with a surly music, is moaning aloof in the tree:
Yonder, up there, in the blue and the breezy mid-sky swings
The lanneret hawk, as of old, when my heart went higher than he.
“Could one leap all at once to the end! not doom'd, like a grub, to grope
About in the blinding earth, looking up never more from one's load!
Well, never mind! One is laying up knowledge, at least, one must hope;
And one cannot afford to leap over the knowledge that lies in one's road.”
About in the blinding earth, looking up never more from one's load!
Well, never mind! One is laying up knowledge, at least, one must hope;
And one cannot afford to leap over the knowledge that lies in one's road.”
Intermediate methods! importance of every detail!
Say we, consoling ourselves; and again pick up heart to persist.
Ha, but cryptogams grow by the hundred, and books by the bushel,—men fail!
Here the door opens. In steps the Botanical Archivist,
Say we, consoling ourselves; and again pick up heart to persist.
Ha, but cryptogams grow by the hundred, and books by the bushel,—men fail!
Here the door opens. In steps the Botanical Archivist,
Asking...whom else but Theophilus? what better man could you wish?
To catalogue all the collection of dried plants recently sent
From the Himmalayan range by Commander Cornelius Fish;
And Theophilus cannot decline an appeal where an honour is meant.
To catalogue all the collection of dried plants recently sent
From the Himmalayan range by Commander Cornelius Fish;
And Theophilus cannot decline an appeal where an honour is meant.
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Friend! when a man to one purpose the whole of his will hath awarded,
He will justly be jealous of all other claims on the time given to it:
He will lock up his life in a turret of tall triple brass, dragon-guarded,
Hide himself close in a strong central thought, and let nothing break thro' it:
He will justly be jealous of all other claims on the time given to it:
He will lock up his life in a turret of tall triple brass, dragon-guarded,
Hide himself close in a strong central thought, and let nothing break thro' it:
Beauty peeps in at the casement, he savagely fastens the shutter:
Pleasure trips light at the threshold, he pushes the bolt in the door:
Fortune, red gold in her right hand, comes fearless with good news to utter,
He seals up his ears like Ulysses, and laughs at her, proud to be poor:
Pleasure trips light at the threshold, he pushes the bolt in the door:
Fortune, red gold in her right hand, comes fearless with good news to utter,
He seals up his ears like Ulysses, and laughs at her, proud to be poor:
But one foe, the most unforeseen, the most dangerous, deadliest of all,
Sure, if it finds, to o'erthrow him—the child of a word or a glance,
The tenant of emptiest nothing—he cannot exclude, nor forestal,
Nor contend with, how wary so ever: and that foe is lnnocent Chance.
Sure, if it finds, to o'erthrow him—the child of a word or a glance,
The tenant of emptiest nothing—he cannot exclude, nor forestal,
Nor contend with, how wary so ever: and that foe is lnnocent Chance.
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Theophilus, most coscientious, most scrupulous scraper-together
Of crumbs dropt from other men's trenchers, laboriously much-annotating,
Sorting, reviewing, arranging,—assigning its true whence and whither
To this plant, and that plant, of each plant the family history stating,
Of crumbs dropt from other men's trenchers, laboriously much-annotating,
Sorting, reviewing, arranging,—assigning its true whence and whither
To this plant, and that plant, of each plant the family history stating,
In the hap-hazard, higgledy-piggledy ship-load of riches from Nature
Robb'd by Commander Cornelius Fish, the illustrious sailor,
Lights, by ill luck, on a milk-white gnaphalium, foreign in feature,—
Petals more pointed and definite, sepals profuser and paler
Robb'd by Commander Cornelius Fish, the illustrious sailor,
Lights, by ill luck, on a milk-white gnaphalium, foreign in feature,—
Petals more pointed and definite, sepals profuser and paler
Than those of its kindred in Europe,—in short, a new specimen, clearly
Distinguish'd. Whereat, as in conscience compell'd, for mankind's information
The Doctor (alas! now no longer mere student, but straighten'd severely
Into sedate middle age) then and there, after due consultation
Distinguish'd. Whereat, as in conscience compell'd, for mankind's information
The Doctor (alas! now no longer mere student, but straighten'd severely
Into sedate middle age) then and there, after due consultation
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Of all that botanical writers have said on gnaphalia in general,
Sits down, and indites a small treatise, this specimen specially treating;—
Its structure, morphology, system, and elements, gaseous or mineral,
Thus in respect of the race of gnaphalia, our knowledge completing.
Sits down, and indites a small treatise, this specimen specially treating;—
Its structure, morphology, system, and elements, gaseous or mineral,
Thus in respect of the race of gnaphalia, our knowledge completing.
Which done now, ... no sooner the Doctor's small treatise, exciting sensation,
Is read by the learnèd, than straightway three scandalised savants, dissenting
In toto, determined to deal with what calls for severe reprobation,
Hurl at him and the public three passionate pamphlets, objecting, commenting,
Is read by the learnèd, than straightway three scandalised savants, dissenting
In toto, determined to deal with what calls for severe reprobation,
Hurl at him and the public three passionate pamphlets, objecting, commenting,
Suggesting, appealing, opposing, inveighing, reproaching, regretting;
Whereunto, nothing daunted, he feels himself bound to make answer minutely,
Disclosing, expounding, disputing, affirming, denying, upsetting,
Proving himself no mere tyro, attacking the main points acutely.
Whereunto, nothing daunted, he feels himself bound to make answer minutely,
Disclosing, expounding, disputing, affirming, denying, upsetting,
Proving himself no mere tyro, attacking the main points acutely.
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Back to the charge, each opponent, tenacious returning, with rage hacks
Hard at the Doctor, and fights every inch with the heart of a Roman:
Not to be vanquish'd by numbers, the Doctor, as valiant as Ajax,
Buckles the tighter his breastplate, and rushes in wrath on the foeman.
Hard at the Doctor, and fights every inch with the heart of a Roman:
Not to be vanquish'd by numbers, the Doctor, as valiant as Ajax,
Buckles the tighter his breastplate, and rushes in wrath on the foeman.
Religion, meanwhile, and Theology fly to the rescue of something,
No man precisely knows what, with emphatical protest on all things.
O what a strepitant contest, to make a man envy the dumb thing
Gifted by God with the grace to be silent, whatever men call things!
No man precisely knows what, with emphatical protest on all things.
O what a strepitant contest, to make a man envy the dumb thing
Gifted by God with the grace to be silent, whatever men call things!
Ossas of argument piled upon Pelions of perfect conviction!
Otium rogat ... no help for it! Caught now, mid-seas, in Ægeo,
On we drive, hurl'd by Euroclydon ... Heaven send us help in affliction,
And save us from heretic knaves, qui non recte loquuntur de Deo!
Otium rogat ... no help for it! Caught now, mid-seas, in Ægeo,
On we drive, hurl'd by Euroclydon ... Heaven send us help in affliction,
And save us from heretic knaves, qui non recte loquuntur de Deo!
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Deathless, the dismal discussion continues thro' years grey and greyer.
Curst be the hand of Commander Cornelius Fish! that did gather
That mischievous milk-white mountain weed, better left on its layer
Of snow, near the sunrise, safe hid in the high Himmalayan weather.
Curst be the hand of Commander Cornelius Fish! that did gather
That mischievous milk-white mountain weed, better left on its layer
Of snow, near the sunrise, safe hid in the high Himmalayan weather.
Wretchedest weed in creation! sly hypocrite fashion'd by Fate,
To bring the grey hairs of my friend full of grief to the grave where he lies now!
Who could surmise in thy face of white innocence heartfuls of hate
And contention? No more upon thee, wicked weed, will I ever set eyes now!
To bring the grey hairs of my friend full of grief to the grave where he lies now!
Who could surmise in thy face of white innocence heartfuls of hate
And contention? No more upon thee, wicked weed, will I ever set eyes now!
For the learnèd defunct we lament here at last grew (and all for thy sake too!)
Nothing more than, himself, a mere human gnaphalium, sapless and wither'd;
Till Death, for his own choice collection of dried things, was minded to take to
Himself such a notable specimen. Bloom, with the bloom off him, gather'd
Nothing more than, himself, a mere human gnaphalium, sapless and wither'd;
Till Death, for his own choice collection of dried things, was minded to take to
Himself such a notable specimen. Bloom, with the bloom off him, gather'd
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By Dis, gloomy gatherer! catalogued, pack'd up, disposed of for ever,
Lies (here you have him!) named, dated, and done with. Meanwhile the great question
He started, surviving the Doctor, who died of his latest endeavour,
Continues to puzzle our Pundits with cart-loads of precious suggestion.
Lies (here you have him!) named, dated, and done with. Meanwhile the great question
He started, surviving the Doctor, who died of his latest endeavour,
Continues to puzzle our Pundits with cart-loads of precious suggestion.
Suppose, now, some man with one object in life—to construct a steam-engine:—
First, say you, study dynamics; then metals; learn smelting and founding;
Off with you, next, to the cog-wheel department; cog wheels; you may then join
The cylinder-makers; and so forth; in this way the full circle rounding;
First, say you, study dynamics; then metals; learn smelting and founding;
Off with you, next, to the cog-wheel department; cog wheels; you may then join
The cylinder-makers; and so forth; in this way the full circle rounding;
Meanwhile the man dies. Our friend here,—what now is he doing, I wonder?
Chasing a phantom gnaphalium, worlds beyond worlds wanly straying?
Or simply, with palms cross'd at ease on his cool narrow couch, lying under
This pother, and laughing alone in his grave-sleeve at what I am saying?
Chasing a phantom gnaphalium, worlds beyond worlds wanly straying?
Or simply, with palms cross'd at ease on his cool narrow couch, lying under
This pother, and laughing alone in his grave-sleeve at what I am saying?
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Anyhow, here lie the mortal remains (with a limitless list too
Of academies, institutes, colleges, orders, whereof he was member)
Of Doctor Theophilus Timothy Bloom the renown'd botanist, who
Died in the year Sixty-two, on the fourteenth day of December.
Of academies, institutes, colleges, orders, whereof he was member)
Of Doctor Theophilus Timothy Bloom the renown'd botanist, who
Died in the year Sixty-two, on the fourteenth day of December.
Well! sitting here on the grave of my master, while under the stone
The red worm is picking his brains, there's a notion comes into my mind:—
(Was it the throstle that sung it, up there where the blackthorn is blown?
Or here, in the long grass, was it let fall by the whispering wind?
The red worm is picking his brains, there's a notion comes into my mind:—
(Was it the throstle that sung it, up there where the blackthorn is blown?
Or here, in the long grass, was it let fall by the whispering wind?
What, if the grey cricket chirrup'd it, chasing yon seed-ball enchanted?
What, if the wild bee humm'd it, ruffling the rich guelder rose?)
The world, perchance after all, knows already enough: what is wanted
Is, not to know more, but know how to imagine the much that it knows.
What, if the wild bee humm'd it, ruffling the rich guelder rose?)
The world, perchance after all, knows already enough: what is wanted
Is, not to know more, but know how to imagine the much that it knows.
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