The squirrel knew me, and the dragon-fly

Shot by me like a flash of purple fire.

The rough briar tore my bleeding palms; the hemlock,

Brow high, did strike my forehead as I pas'd;

Yet trod I not the wild-flower in my path,

Nor bruised the wild-bird's egg.

Was this the end?

Why grew we then together i' the same plot?

Why fed we the same fountain? drew the same sun?

Why were our mothers branches of one stem?